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Michelle Obama and Daughters See <em>Memphis</em> in NYC
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 22, 2010
Modified Mar 22, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 22, 2010
Modified Mar 22, 2010
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While the eyes of America were on the floor of the House of Representatives for yesterday's historic vote on health care reform, First Lady Michelle Obama turned to Broadway, surprising a Memphis matinee audience by arriving just before the 3 p.m. curtain with her mother and daughters Malia and Sasha. There was no announcement accompanying their entrance, but one audience member tells the Daily News, "When they came in, everybody noticed and started taking pictures. Then people started clapping too and there was a standing ovation for them." Twitter user pooniepoonster may have summed up the reaction best: "OMFG MICHELLE OBAMA AND HER GIRLS are sitting 4 rows behind me at Memphis." (Apparently even when you're married to the President, pooniepoonster can still score better seats.)
The Secret Service was not pleased with all the photo taking, and the Daily News reports that they "warned at intermission that they would confiscate anyone who tried to take anymore pictures." It's unclear if any audience members were confiscated. Just before intermission, the First Family was ushered out of the house and spent the interval watching "some backstage activity," according to Playbill. Memphis producer Sue Frost says the Secret Service "tried to get them out before the curtain call, but [Mrs. Obama is] a class act and everyone stayed — on their feet — until Chad [Kimball] and Montego [Glover] came out for their bows." (Before the show, the First Lady and her daughters also visited F.A.O. Schwarz, the Post reports.)
Memphis concerns a white DJ (played by Kimball) who plays "black music" on a white radio station in racially segregated Tennessee in the 1950s, and falls for an African-American singer (played by Glover). Kimball tells Playbill, "I picked up on [Michelle Obama's] laugh instantly. It's surreal how familiar one becomes with the mannerisms of a person one has never met but has merely watched from a distance for a time. What a thrill it was to see her dance in the aisle at the end along with everyone else, until the Secret Service whisked her away."
Tagged
broadway
First Lady
malia
Memphis
Michelle obama
sasha
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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