INTERVIEW: Lindsay Nicole Chambers on her new politically engaged musical
Photo: Ghost of John McCain stars, from left, Lindsay Nicole Chambers and Luke Kolbe Mannikus. Photo courtesy of Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade / Provided by DKC O&M with permission.
The new musical Ghost of John McCain, which finishes up its quick off-Broadway run Sunday, Oct. 13, at the Soho Playhouse, features a character list that is quite well known to people interested in politics. In addition to the senator who is the play’s namesake, there’s Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Lindsey Graham and Joe Biden. Heck, even Eva Perón shows up, along with Roy Cohn and a host of others.
The show, with music and lyrics by Drew Fornarola and a book by Scott Elmegreen, is meant to be a political satire that takes shots at all sides. One of the cast members is Lindsay Nicole Chambers, who plays a variety of roles in the musical, including Clinton. The actor is known for many stage roles, including the world premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, Here We Are, plus Kinky Boots, Elf and Lysistrata Jones. She’s also a recording artist, having released her debut album, This Is the Chord, This Is The Note.
Recently Chambers spoke with Hollywood Soapbox about her journey with Ghost of John McCain, which is directed by Catie Davis. Here’s what she had to say …
On the experience so far …
“It’s been a blast so far really. It’s an hour and half of nonstop quick changes and dance numbers and things like that. … It’s really very funny. It’s a political satire. Obviously we know that much, but it’s very fair-minded. I was not sure who we were going to be taking down. … We’re taking punches at everybody. It’s kind of an equal opportunity satire, which I think is really pleasing.”
On the original songs in the musical …
“Drew Fornarola, the composer and lyricist, wrote a couple of really touching numbers for potentially problematic characters, you know. Like Trump has an 11-o’clock number that is just very visceral. Oh, this kind of explains the wacky goings on in this guy’s brain. And there’s a literal Karen character in the show, and she gets a sweet ballad to explain why she would vote for a guy that she knows doesn’t quite have her best interests in mind. I think it’s a really well-rounded story about where we are in the country and also just wildly funny on top of it. What’s not to like, I guess.”
On trying to offer up jokes for everyone in the audience …
“It’s going to be a cross-demographic of people. There are older folks with money who maybe are more conservative-leaning, and then there are some college students and very young people who are going to die over the Taylor Swift jokes and things like that. In rehearsals and with an audience, we had a very long preview process so we could get used to where a mixed crowd was going to laugh.”
On the physical challenges of acting in this quick-paced comedy …
“It’s really fun. It’s one of those shows that from the second you get on, you’re just on the ride, and it feels like it’s done right away. It’s nonstop. As an actor, it’s really fun and really satisfying, and it doesn’t feel like any time has transpired. And also it is exhausting. It’s a bit of a whirlwind as we run it every night and sometimes twice a day. It’s mostly a lot of fun. It’s a lot of fun to play around on stage, which now that we’re open, we’re frozen. There are new lines coming in. There is no reshuffling of scenes and stuff like that like there are in previews. Now that we’re just kind of settling in, we’re starting to lovingly mess around with each other on stage, and it’s fun in a new way now.”
On whether she’s politically engaged during these consequential times …
“I think like many people I was not super-duper politically engaged. I always voted and things like that, but beginning with the Trump era, and even voting for Obama, I remember being super-motivated and super-engaged and excited about what could happen if somebody like that was in the White House. Since then, I’ve been more motivated, more engaged, but then lockdown and the mishandling of the whole pandemic and the COVID response, the bungling of that was sort of really eye-opening for a lot of people. Then we sat at home and watched people storm the Capitol. I’m definitely engaged and activated in a way that I was not 10 years ago.”
On what it’s like playing a character named Hillary Clinton …
“I know I can be funny, but I don’t have a lot of perfect impressions in my back pocket. It was more like getting her vibe and also taking the real Hillary Clinton and the Hillary Clinton that is trapped in Donald Trump’s brain, which would be Donald Trump’s impression of Hillary Clinton.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Ghost of John McCain, featuring Lindsay Nicole Chambers, continues at the Soho Playhouse through Sunday, Oct. 13. Click here for more information and tickets.
