Bill Clinton the subject of off-Broadway musical

NEW YORK — Bill and Hillary Clinton are going back to the White House this spring — onstage, that is.

Clinton the Musical, the brainchild of two Australian brothers, makes its off-Broadway debut in April with a hysterical premise and a gentle look back at the '90s.

The play celebrates the first baby-boomer president — the one who preferred briefs to boxers, played a sax on national TV, presided over an economic boom and got himself impeached.

"The thing that endeared Bill Clinton and continues to endear him to the American public is that he was a very identifiable human being," said Paul Hodge, who wrote the music and lyrics and co-wrote the story. "He was clearly human and he had flaws like everyone."

The cast of characters includes Dick Morris, Newt Gingrich, Monica Lewinsky and former Clinton special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, who sings "A Starr Is Born" and "Sexual Relations." There's a dancing press corps and music reminiscent of Celine Dion, Hanson and the Spice Girls.

"It really does its job of taking down America and uplifting it at the same time, in a weird sort of way," said Dan Knechtges, the Tony Award-nominated director and choreographer. "Nothing is sacred."

Two men will play the 42nd president — one a wholesome, intelligent Clinton, and another a randy, rogue one (Tom Galantich and Duke Lafoon share the task.) Only Hillary can see both.

The show was first presented in a shortened form at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2012, before playing the New York Musical Theater Festival last year. It opens off-Broadway at New World Stages on April 9.

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