My Buddy Bill [Clinton smokes hash in Amsterdam, Hillary, and more in a new play about the ex-prez]

The Hollywood Reporter ^ | Nov. 23, 2005 | Jay Reiner

[summer]

Rick Cleveland tells Bill Clinton stories in his one-man show.

Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse, Westwood, CA
Through Dec. 18

Bottom line: A must-see, must-hear show to open the fine new second space at the Geffen.

What is it like to pal around with Bill Clinton? Rick Cleveland gives us the skinny in "My Buddy Bill," a fascinating and finely executed one-man show based on Cleveland's friendship with the former president.

The friendship is over now, for reasons that become clear in the evening's most revealing episode. But no matter what you might have thought of Clinton going in, you're going to understand him much better on the way out.

Cleveland met Clinton in 2000 when, as one of several writers on "The West Wing," he was taking a tour of the White House. When Clinton's dog Buddy peed on the rug in the Oval Office, Cleveland, who knows a lot about dogs, gave the president an impromptu lesson in dog behavior. It turned out that the two had things other than dogs in common, both having had alcoholic fathers and a "white trash" background to overcome.

It also is clear that Cleveland is a pretty easy guy to like. He's a folksy sort with a dry wit, a laid back manner and an impish glint in his eye. Imagine a grown-up Huck Finn rafting down the Potomac and you can see why Clinton was drawn to him.

Cleveland's stories are chock-full of intimate details and amusing enough to tickle the most demanding funnybone. There was the time he was invited to Arkansas and winds up jamming, drinking beer and playing Trivial Pursuit with Clinton, his strange brother Roger and Billy Bob Thornton. We're also told about a trip to Amsterdam where Clinton, Christopher Walken and Cleveland smoke some very good hash in a stoner bar and Bill, perhaps under the influence because he definitely inhales, has some intriguing things to say about Monica Lewinsky, Sharon Stone, Ann Coulter and other topics of interest.

But of all the people we meet, including Clinton, no one is quite so ... um, commanding as Hillary. We first meet Hillary at an Italian restaurant in Santa Monica where Bill and Rick are double-dating with their respective wives. The Clintons arrive late and obviously have been fighting on the way over, so the dinner has the feel of low-level warfare with lots of sniping and an occasional ambush. One thing is crystal clear: Bill Clinton is not the same person with Hillary around that he is when she's not around.

Hillary, it seems, is not only "watching me like a hawk," as Bill puts it at one point, but she has someone else watching her fun-loving husband. Based on what happens next, one is forced to conclude that one, Bill Clinton would not have become president if not for Hillary; two, Bill Clinton would not have continued to be president if not for Hillary; and three, Bill Clinton owes Hillary Rodham big time for what she has done for him, and she has her own ways and reasons for collecting on that debt, not all of them pretty.

Is Cleveland telling the truth? He does his best in the show's final moments to sow some doubt in our minds, but most of what he says rings true. Completely true or not, though, it's a delicious show to sit through, subtly written, humorously delivered and skillfully directed by Peter Birkenhead for maximum effect.

A final note: This is the debut production of the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the newly remodeled Geffen Playhouse. It's a warm, intimate second space certain to find much use in years to come. The opening piece is a corker.

MY BUDDY BILL
Presented by the Geffen Playhouse
Credits:
Written and performed by Rick Cleveland
Director: Peter Birkenhead
Set designer: Karyl Newman
Dramaturg: Mary Cleveland

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

HILLARY will make sure that she is the last one standing after all is said and done during the 2008 Campaign Primaries.

Pray for the well-being of her last roadblock to reentering our Oval Office:

Republican Presidential Candidate CONDI who is busy producing FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY throughout the Middle East as our own best self-protection against future terrorist attacks here at home.

.

[TexasCajun]

There was the time he was invited to Arkansas and winds up jamming, drinking beer and playing Trivial Pursuit with Clinton, his strange brother Roger and Billy Bob Thornton.

I'm sure Roger brought NoseLikeVacuum a pile of coke for the all night party.

[wildwood]

This is interesting, too: "The friendship is over now, for reasons that become clear in the evening's most revealing episode."

this 'review' doesn't reveal much at ALL. we need a spy to go see and review it.

[summer]

True, it would be fascinating to read a freeper's review of this play. But, you don't need a "spy." You could probably call up the theater and reserve a block of seats for FR. And, reviews like this one are intended to persuade you to go see it -- by NOT giving away everything in the play! :)

[Suzy Quzy]

Sorry, but Clinton WAS/IS White trash. His mother was just this side of a whore. She was a drunk, a gambler and a very loose woman.

[Freebird Forever]

I'm very curious what Bil Clinton would say about Ann Coulter. I can't imagine he would like her, on the other hand, she is quite attractive, so who knows.

Clinton's a hound of the first order.

His comments were probably similar to what a straight guy thinks about a hot lesbian ... "One night with me and I could bring her around."

[satchmodog9]

I find this humorous and I would see it if I had the chance. I would also be pissed like the rest of us on FR if this were a Bush play. I can only imagine how the Dummies are eating themselves over this.

[Suzy Quzy]

Clinton isn't white trash when he hangs around classy people like the Bushes. Clinyon is like TOFU, he acts like who he is around.

[Jackknife]

PING!

[summer]

Clinton is like TOFU, he acts like who he is around.

ROTFLMAO...an excellent analogy! :)

[summer]

I would also be pissed like the rest of us on FR if this were a Bush play.

See my post #9 - freepers had a generally positive response to the news of a Jenna Bush play, since the play was not intending to destroy Jenna Bush. You know, every one of these politicos or people in politics have a side to them which is, in fact, very human, but is often not seen in their "official" capacities. Gov Jeb Bush has a great sense of humor, for instance, but there's nothing funny about dealing with hurricanes and all the other things he has to deal with.

So, when you write a play about someone, it is possible to show people another side of that famous person, a side that is not usually part of their official speeches, etc. This is why I think politicians who take the time to befriend ordinary people are actually quite smart. They get an insight into what real people are going through, and if they are vulnerable themselves, they reveal to real people that they, too, are only human.

However, Bill Clinton really pushes the envelope way beyond what a voter imagines is acceptable behavior for someone who has held such a high position. I think that's why this play got a good review; because this writer did not hold back in that regard.

[pinz-n-needlez]

I wouldn't expect that there is a single thing in this play that Bill or Hillary doesn't want there. I think this is an effort to innoculate Hillary against a new round of rumors of his/her behavior before her presidential run in '08.

Begala and Carville probably fine tuned the script.

Pinz

[Jackknife]

[summer]

I don't know about that -- according to this review, the writer and the ex-prez are no longer friends. So, apparently, there are more than a few things in this play not exactly complimentary to this ex-prez.

[pinz-n-needlez]

I read that, but kind of doubt it. Who would fund a show in NYC that Hillary opposes? Rmember his 'purple rage' duing his Grand Jury questioning? Never happend, but posed that football for all of us to kick -- then the actual video footage pulled it away.

None of the things in the play can be documented, it's just empty calories for the Clinton haters, imo. They'll make money off a new group of customers.

Clinton backers can come out and make fun of people who get riled by it, and then Hillary has a whole new list of awful stuff she can just laugh off.

That's my take anyway, I'm sure we'll see in time... :-)

Pinz

[wildwood]

You could probably call up the theater and reserve a block of seats for FR.

mmmm that's part of the problem...wouldn't really want to contribute anything to the clinton machine, you know! like to hang on to my dollars too. have been tricked WAY too many times with crappy movies (for which i paid 9 bucks to see!) that have some horrible crack about my political beliefs. you know? just sick of it.

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

Actually, we HAD an inhaler, just not a President...

[Hildy]

My Father ALWAYS said that Hillary knew exactly what Bill was doing at all times...she knew the women, she knew because she had people spying on him...that's how she was able to have all the control she craved. IF this woman gets in the White House...God have mercy on Us.

[Hildy]

I think you're plenty wrong on that. Bill just didn't start being Bill...Bill was the way he was when they met. She knew he was a guy she could control. You don't think women marry men for control? You're wrong.