A musical comedy based on the intelligence failures which led to the war in Iraq has opened Off-Broadway.
‘Baghdaddy’ the musical is based on the true story of ‘Curveball’, an Iraqi defector whose claims about weapons of mass destruction led to 2003 invasion.
Charlie Fink, the show’s producer said: ‘If you put “Hamilton” and “The Office” in a blender you would have this show.’
The plot opens in the present day with disgraced CIA spies gathering at a support group — think Spooks Anonymous — as they seek understanding and redemption for mistakes that haunt them years later.
The action then switches back in time to Frankfurt airport, where the informant offers to trade apparent secrets about Saddam Hussein’s presumed bio-weapons program for political asylum.
German intelligence consults the CIA, where analysts driven by ambition, office crushes and intransigent bosses see Curveball as a ticket out of everyday routine and a fast-track to promotion.
But the growing farce quickly gives way to the 9/11 attacks, swapping comedy for tragedy and the onset of a war still being fought today, 14 years after an invasion found no weapons of mass destruction.
It’s a fast-paced script woven into a tight score that blends traditional musical theater and camp dancing with hip-hop tracks that carry a stark warning that history should not repeat itself.
Fink says it is more relevant than ever in today’s climate of ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ as some fear that Trump could drag the country into another conflict, if not in Syria then over North Korea.
He continued: ‘It feels like a time when rules are being rewritten and authority is listening to its instincts, rather than listening to facts and analysis. And that’s scary.’
The first preview on April 6 coincided with the day that the president ordered a cruise missile attack on a Syrian airbase, the first direct US action against the Syrian regime.
Low budget and in the works for 10 years, there are just eight actors playing six main roles. ‘Baghdaddy’ returns at the height of the Broadway season, competing with more than a dozen other new shows.
It also spreads responsibility for the 2003 invasion far and wide, not just at the door of then president George W. Bush or the US government but the country as a whole and its Western allies in general.
Marshall Pailet, director, co-writer and composer said the use of comedy is not inappropriate when dealing with such a major issue.
He said: ‘We all messed up. Because we open up their minds and their hearts with comedy, we’re able to slip in substance, story, character and a lesson.’
The show is scheduled to run until June 18 at St Luke’s Theatre, a basement venue just steps from Times Square.
But never does the show laugh at war itself. More than 4,500 US troops have died in Iraq since 2003. Some estimates for the number of civilians to have perished range from 173,916 to nearly half a million.
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