Hope! Obama Musical Set to Open in Frankfurt, Germany January 17

"Hope!" a musical about Barack Obama, is set to hit the stage in Frankfurt, Germany January 17th. The musical is based on President Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. The creator of the musical, Randall Hutchins, an American, said he conceived the idea for the musical at the beginning of Obama's campaign. Obama's dramatic and historic ascent to the presidency  has been captured in numerous books and articles, but a musical is certainly a first.

Der Spiegel reports: Wearing a knitted cardigan and crooning into his microphone, Barack Obama paces around the stage, wooing Michelle with a love song. In another number, now clad in a suit, Jimmie Wilson who plays Obama, struts up and down, clasping his mike and leading a euphoric gospel chorus of "Yes We Can."

These two scenes are part of an unusual new musical called "Hope!" which is to premiere in Frankfurt on Jan. 17. The production, the biggest of its kind, is an all-singing and all-dancing take on the US president's victorious campaign in 2008.

I thought Europe's love affair with President Obama had started to dissipate, much like the feelings in the United States, but maybe I am wrong. Der Spiegel states that about two-thirds of the tickets for the show has been sold. The show will be held in the Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt am Main and tickets are priced at between $60-$216. Organizers are reportedly in talks about a future US tour after completing a tour of Germany. Good luck. I am sure the tour will meet some resistance as many Americans are becoming disillusioned with President Obama for a myriad of reasons -- high unemployment, high foreclosure rates, two unending wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, etc.