From one scene to the next everyday arguments bleed into turning a first lady into a duck and killing someone with a doll. Audiences will explore the inner lives of the first ladies and daughters of United States presidents in Elon University’s production of “First Daughter Suite.”
The musical, written by Michael John Lachuisa, will be performed in Roberts Studio Theatre from May 2 to 4.
Director and professor Alexandra Warren said the show features four sections, or “suites,” highlighting first ladies of the United States and their daughters. Warren said the show is set before social media, a time when the first lady’s image had to be more perfected under the pressure cooker of attention they received.
“It’s very different when all you have is sort of that one magazine picture, or that one newspaper article,” Warren said. “The pace is slower, so the stakes are higher for those moments when they’re captured.”
Warren said the show focuses on mother-daughter relationships and how the pressure of public life affects them. The show uses satire to poke fun at the women and historical events in what Warren said the writer called a “historical fantasia.”
Junior music theatre major Tinkie Jones plays both Rosalynn Carter, wife of former President Jimmy Carter, and Laura Bush, wife of former President George W. Bush. She said the historical fantasia refers to the show’s combination of real people with fictional events, putting the people in wild situations.
“These characters are obviously real people, and they really were the wives and daughters of presidents, and we know somewhat about them from their time in the public eye,” Jones said. “But Lachuisa really puts them in situations that are going to surprise the audience and make them wonder what these women were really like, or how much we really know about these women.”
There is not much known about the first ladies, but even less about their daughters, according to professor of history Rod Clare, who is not involved in the show. He said many first ladies were either a traditional supporting wife or used their role for activism, but were generally less politically active as a result of sexism.
“The presidents themselves often recognize what a valuable person the first lady was not just for personal, like, ‘I want a shoulder to lean on after the days long,’ but giving them actual advice,” Clare said. “These women are very intelligent.”
The show features an all-female cast and mostly female production team, something sophomore music theatre major Emma Bruce said has allowed her to feel more free in her acting.
“This is one of the first times that I don’t feel like I have to over-explain my character,” Bruce said. “Because I think all of us just get it. Normally, I feel like I’m having to justify the actions of my character to the director.”
Bruce plays both Betty Ford, wife to former President Gerald Ford, and Nancy Reagan, wife to former President Ronald Reagan. She said the cast has focused on the idea of the women in the show having a porcelain shell and dealing with what happens when that shell cracks.
For Ford, Bruce said the character uses alcohol to cope, and for Reagan, it strains her relationship with her daughter as she worries about politics and maintaining the perfect image.
“Maybe if they didn’t try so hard to cover up the cracks, that things would have panned out better for them, that their relationships with their daughters would have, would have been better,” Bruce said.
For Jones, her characters help others. Laura Bush is trying to get her mother-in-law, Barbara, to come in and pack for the campaign trail on the anniversary of Barbara’s daughter’s death. Rosalynn Carter is trying to care for her daughter, Amy.
Jones said one specific scene with Rosalynn and Amy is an example of the writer’s “historical fantasia” and ability to push the envelope. In the scene, several wild things happen, including Jones’ character getting turned into a duck and Amy killing someone with a doll.
Freshman music theatre major Grace Santo plays Amy. She said her 12-year-old character is sassy and funny; she acts as if she is on top of the world.
“She just wants big things, and she wants to be like her dad, because, I mean, he’s the president of a whole country,” Santo said. “She has big thoughts, just like he does.”
The scene takes place in Amy’s dream, though it is unclear at first, Santo said. She said committing to the craziness of the scene has helped her stay in the moment.
“I think it’s just committing to the character, thinking everything you’re doing is the most important thing, and not looking at it from an outside perspective,” Santo said. “Because when you are just committed to the character, it feels real.”
In Santo’s scene, set while Jimmy Carter is president, the characters attempt to free Iranian hostages. Warren said she never imagined when the show was selected for Elon Performing Arts two years ago that the United States would be in conflict with Iran.
Warren said the cast has had several conversations about Iran and how it connects to the show, and how audiences today will see the topic differently than the original audiences.
“It’s really interesting to be able to talk about that, to figure out how we feel,” Warren said. “It’s, of course, something we don’t want to deal with, we don’t want to be at war. We don’t want to see the suffering and things like that. We do want to understand sort of how did we get here, and what is the history behind it.”
Bruce said she is interested in political science, and coming into rehearsal and learning the history of these conflicts has impacted her view of history and how it repeats itself.
“Sometimes we think that those things are really distant, like, ‘Why do I need to learn about presidents?’ Or, like, ‘Why do I need to learn about history even?’” Bruce said. “And it’s like we learn about history because it can help us make better decisions in the future.”
With the dark themes of the story, Warren said she was surprised by how funny the show was when she saw the cast perform it for the first time. She said she hopes this show helps the audience see these women in a new light.
“I actually love that about it, even though it has a lot of darkness to it, and it goes there, and it really explores that, the difficulty of the relationships that we can have with our mothers,” Warren said.
“First Daughter Suite” will run Roberts Studio Theatre in Scott Studios May 2 to 4, with evening shows May 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m. and matinee shows May 3 and 4 at 2 p.m. Tickets will be available on April 24 at 9 a.m. on the Elon Performing Arts website.