There were few things as fun to do this past President’s Day weekend with the family than see Grace for President at La Mirada Theater. Over the course of an hour, a group of actors welcomes the audience into Mrs. Bremerton’s classroom to learn about something crucial to America’s very structure: voting. With a demographic aimed at the younger grades, the cast does an excellent job of capturing the rambunctious enthusiasm of the age group, able to slowly turn everyday situations into parallels for modern politics. Suddenly a lunchroom becomes a space for campaigning, where discussion of the electoral college is broken into language that is accessible.
Based on the Kelly DiPucchio book from 2016, the story follows Grace as she decides that the school needs a woman president. Speaking directly to the audience, she establishes her case with passion and empathy. It’s easy to root for Grace. She encourages the audience to clap for her as she presents her platform. There’s a campiness to the supporting characters, managing to turn a simple boy versus girls motif into an entertaining ride as the boys sing a barbershop-style number on why girls stink. Her opponent, Thomas, has a bratty quality that makes him easy to dislike without being seen as evil. With plenty of interpolation of memorable presidential quotes (such as “walk and carry a big stick” becoming a cry for fish sticks), the show makes history exciting for the young audience.
With all of this said, there’s something fun about the final votes. As everyone makes their decision, a final song finds Grace and Thomas turning to the audience, encouraging them to yell their vote. The show manages to put their concepts to practice in a way that informs the importance of voting without making it boring. In fact, the predictable outcome becomes exciting because of how the cast whips the audience into a frenzy. It makes the optimism of Grace’s win symbolic of where the future can go. It’s everything that a show like this should be striving for and does so effortlessly.
As a whole, Grace for President is one of the better family theater shows of recent. Along with having an educational value, it understands the value of performance as a way to persuade. It uses campaign tactics and turns them into lively theater. Every character is recognizable, even in their over the top fashion, and the fact that it’s done without reducing the plot to harmful bullying is admirable. This is a great show to introduce those interested in politics if just to give an overview of everything that can be achieved. Who knows. Maybe the next president in 40 years will have felt inspired by Grace. It’s possible. That’s the type of optimism that this show strives for and it achieves that potential very, very well.
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