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Archives for August 2022

Bartlett Sher: “When presidents have this close relationship to the arts, it allows there to be better, deeper discourse,” The White House 1600 Sessions Podcast

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The White House Historical Association released a new episode of The White House 1600 Sessions podcast with “American Storyteller Bartlett Sher” hosted by Stewart McLaurin. Together they explore how one of our nation’s greatest storytellers uses theater to explain and illuminate stories of American history.

In this episode, Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, and Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher discuss the portrayal of the White House and iconic moments in history on the main stage. 

“Here in Washington, on any given night, you have White House staff, members of Congress, policymakers, leaders in every sector, in a theater audience,” said McLaurin. “What they’re seeing has to have an impact on their thinking, and they apply these things to what they’re going through in their own lives.”

Sher details the process of putting together a story to share with others, and what audiences can take away from his productions.

“Looking for those stories which tell us something about who we are, especially American stories, and bringing them to audiences so they can read, reconsider them, look at them freshly, is one of the tasks of my work,” said Sher. “It’s one of the great accomplishments of my work when I can pull it off.”

Next spring, Sher will direct a revival of the musical Camelot on Broadway, in another collaboration with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy said Camelot was JFK’s favorite musical, and after his death, the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable came to symbolize the Kennedy administration.  

Sher says the new version of Camelot allows Sorkin “to intersect his ideas and interest in the roundtable and democracy, and the struggles of Arthur to make it a special new place” against the ideas of how to make a musical and how to ramp into songs. 

Bartlett Sher with renowned Opera singer Denyce Graves, and Stewart McLaurin

When asked by McLaurin what it is like to have a president of the United States in the audience of a play, Sher recalled then-President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama seeing his 2009 revival of playwright August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone on Broadway, and called the moment “extraordinary.”

“When presidents have this close relationship to the arts, it allows there to be better, deeper discourse,” continued Sher. “I think it’s more powerful, and I think it’s really extraordinary.”

The White House 1600 Sessions is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

New York Times Reports The Return of Aviator Joe

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Courtesy of The New York Times 

Today, The New York Times reported on President Biden’s infamous aviator sunglasses. The aviators, as reported, are back after Covid, vacation and legislative victories for President Biden. 

Dynamite political strategist Lis Smith and our very own Tammy Haddad were quoted in the article. Here’s an excerpt: 

“You know Joe Biden is having a good day when he wears his aviators,” said Lis Smith, the author of the recent book “Any Given Tuesday” (buy it here) and the political strategist who helped craft Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign. See, for example, Mr. Biden’s appearance last April when he, Vice President Kamala Harris and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson appeared on the South Lawn after Ms. Jackson’s Senate confirmation as an associate justice of the Supreme Court.

“You know he’s having a good month when you see him day after day wearing his aviators,” Ms. Smith continued. “It’s a sign he’s on a roll right now.”

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“They represent, “I’m a cool guy, but I’m a responsible person, and I’m going to wave the American flag and save you,” said Tammy Haddad, a consultant on “Veep” and the founder and chief executive of Haddad Media. It’s a familiar, comfortable semiology, which harks back to the myths of the silent generation, and the promise of Mr. Biden.

“People loved seeing Cruise in his aviators again, and responded,” Ms. Haddad said. “The president is following the same path hoping for the same results.”


You can read the full article here.

Super Tuesday with Lis Smith in DC 

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On Tuesday evening, Stephanie Cutter, Tammy Haddad, Alex Slater, Chris Meagher, Jen Psaki, Adrienne Elrod, Steve Neuman, David Axelrod, Susanna Quinn, and Mo Elleithee joined forces to co-host a party at the Hotel Hive rooftop to celebrate Lis Smith and her New York Times bestseller, Any Given Tuesday.

Lis told the crowd of politicos, Pete campaign alumni and media she wrote this book “to help 18-year-old women like her who want to get into politics, especially since there was no guidebook available when I made my foray into campaigns.”

Smith, who helped put then-South Bend Mayor Pete on the map, also shared people’s comments that her book is a short read with short sentences – something she learned from Stephanie Cutter on the Obama campaign. In the trenches, Cutter’s only comments or directions were always, “Two words: More. Direct.”

Guests included Chris Wallace, Chris Licht, Ben Smith, Robert Costa, Josh Dawsey, Daniel Koh, Jonathan Martin, Betsy Fischer Martin, Robert Draper, Kurt Bardella, Kristen Powers, Kris Coratti, Jeff Zeleny, Michael LaRosa, Jessica Dean, Eric Schultz, Matthew Hiltzik, Juleanna Glover, Bob Barnett, Steve Clemons, Adam Verdugo, David Chalian, Jesse Rodriguez, Ali Rubin, Ann Klenk, Ben Halle, Stacy Kerr, Lisa Allen, Nayeema Raza, Lucas Acosta, and Adam Green. 

Guests enjoyed &pizza and frozen margaritas.

Senior Vice President and Director of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History at the White House Historical Association Dr. Colleen Shogan Named Next White House Archivist

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Today, The White House announced the nomination of Dr. Colleen Shogan, the White House Historical Association’s Director of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History, as the next Archivist of the United States.

Dr. Colleen Shogan (far left) with Abby Phillip, Bartlett Sher, Karen Knutson, and Cambra Overend

In a White House Historical Association Press Release, President of the Association, Stewart McLaurin said “Dr. Shogan is an extraordinary leader who has helped achieve our mission, begun more than 60 years ago, to promote the understanding, enjoyment, and appreciation of the White House in a non-partisan and education-based manner. She is a terrific colleague with vision, integrity, and principal. She will be an incredible archivist of the United States.”

Click here to read more about Colleen.

Dr. Robert Montgomery, Chair of the Department of Surgery at NYU Langone Health and Director of NYU Langone Transplant Institute Speaks at the Ukraine Journalist Fundraiser

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Famed transplant surgeon Dr. Robert Montgomery, chair of the Department of Surgery at NYU Langone Health and director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, who traveled to Ukraine in May to perform life-saving surgeries at the Lviv Transplant Center, and has since raised $280,000 for essential operating room equipment for the center, said of the Ukrainian people: “Their resilience is something I will never forget.”