 |
| Singing
his song: Marshall in Looking Over the President’s
Shoulder. |
What
the Butler Saw
By
James Yeara
Looking
Over the President’s Shoulder
By
James Still, based on My 21 Years in the White House
by Alonzo Fields, directed by Regge Life
Capital Repertory Theatre, through March 26
Winston
Churchill skinny dipped in Florida. He drank . . . often.
He wrote his own speeches. He hated hearing people whistling.
The King of England stuttered. Errol Flynn was a belligerent
drunk who tried to swing a young woman from the chandelier.
Herbert Hoover drank Orangeade, called his wife “mother,”
and didn’t allow alcohol to be served. Generals Dwight Eisenhower
and George Marshall recommended against the integration of
the armed forces under President Truman.
Marian Anderson was invited to sing at the White House when
the Daughters of the American Revolution wouldn’t allow her
to sing at their convention in Philadelphia, but she had to
eat at the servants’ table in the Roosevelt White House. FDR’s
favorite food was pig’s feet, and he could carve a turkey
as economically as a “Vermont farmer.”
“Of
all the great men” that White House Chief Butler Alonzo Fields
(Larry Marshall) met in 21 years of service, “Harry Truman
was the only one who gave me status.” “The White House belonged
to the people, all the people,” Fields states. Being told
that “for 2 cents I’d let you have one” for reprimanding Errol
Flynn to get his chippy down from the chandelier, Fields responds,
“I took a nickel out of my pants pocket, threw it down, stepped
back and said, ‘Keep the change.’ ” Flynn never threw a punch.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s nickname was “Alice in Wonderland,” Truman’s
was “Billy Bunk, Full of Spunk,” FDR’s was “Charlie Potatoes,
after a grocer back home in Indiana who can sell anyone anything,”
and Mrs. Truman was Mrs. Truman, “because she wouldn’t put
up with anything.” Hoover was called “Smiley” because he never
did.
Hoover did say, “If the White House doesn’t lead, who’s going
to follow?” which is as resonant today as it was 75 years
ago.
There are 107 rooms in the White House, 19 bathrooms. In 1800,
John and Abigail Adams were the first occupants. The first
phone was installed in 1887: “1” was its number. Vacuums were
first used in 1922, and the first refrigerator in 1926. “My
wife says I talk even in my sleep, and it’s always about the
White House,” Fields tells us.
Performed before designer S. Anthony Panfilli’s handsome set
of ivory on white plaster walls with black marble floors,
Looking Over the President’s Shoulder is two hours
of subtle history spanning 1931 and the Hoover administration
to after Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953.
While the play is full of minutiae—and I longed for term limits,
as three 30-minute scenes would have been plenty—the subtlety
of the piece seeps into the soul. Marshall serves the character
as well as Fields served his four presidents. The African-American
Fields is consumed with the White House, indulging his passion
for singing frequently (equally well-served by Marshall’s
strong, clear singing voice) even to the point of ending act
one with “White Christmas.”
Class and race consciousness weaves itself throughout Looking
Over the President’s Shoulder: Showing that racism knows
no racial boundaries, the kitchen staff revolts when a Latino
chief chef is appointed by Fields. Truman receives press criticism
for allowing Fields to fly home on a military plane to attend
his mother’s funeral; Fields pointedly ends his White House
service immediately after Eisenhower moves in. Looking
Over the President’s Shoulder is a pleasant guest who
overstays his welcome, but still leaves warm memories.
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