''Rap Master Ronnie'' is the name of several

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

comedies Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

developed by

Garry Trudeau Garretson Beekman Trudeau (born July 21, 1948) is an American cartoonist, best known for creating the ''Doonesbury'' comic strip. Trudeau is also the creator and executive producer of the Amazon Studios political comedy series ''Alpha House''. ...

and

Elizabeth Swados Elizabeth Swados (February 5, 1951 – January 5, 2016) was an American writer, composer, musician, and theatre director. Swados received Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Origin ...

throughout the 1980s, including a 1984

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

"partisan revue," a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

, and a

made for TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

starring

The Smothers Brothers The Smothers Brothers are Thomas ("Tom" – born February 2, 1937) and Richard ("Dick" – born November 20, 1938), American folk singers, musicians, and comedians. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on acoustic gu ...

Carol Kane Carolyn Laurie Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American actress. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as '' Hester Street'' (for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress), ''Dog Day Afternoon'', ''Annie ...

, and

Jon Cryer Jonathan Niven Cryer (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor, writer, director and producer. Born into a show business family, he made his motion picture debut as a teenage photographer in the 1984 romantic comedy ''No Small Affair''; his bre ...

. The shows all share the same basic structure of a faux

campaign ad In politics, campaign advertising is the use of an advertising campaign through the media to influence a political debate, and ultimately, voters. These ads are designed by political consultants and political campaign staff. Many countries rest ...

for

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

, satirizing his

social policies Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society. Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize soci ...

, particularly those regarding drugs and minorities. The shows received largely mixed reviews.

Background

Garry Trudeau was a vocal critic of Reagan throughout his presidency, and devoted considerable space in his comic strip

Doonesbury ''Doonesbury'' is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States The president ...

to attacking his policies, administration, and Reagan himself. In the early 1980s, Trudeau took a hiatus from the strip to write '' Doonesbury: A Musical Comedy'', a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

show that brought an end to many of the strip's long running story lines in anticipation of rebooting it in a format that eliminated its

floating timeline A floating timeline (also known as a sliding timescale) is a device used in fiction, particularly in long-running serials in comics and animation as well as other media, to explain why characters Ageless, age little or not at all over a period of t ...

and allowed the characters to age and grow. In addition to the play's narrative, it also featured several self-contained sketches satirizing the Reagan administration; after the play closed, Trudeau and Swados decided to expand on the sketches and turn them into their own show, timing the release to the 1984 presidential election. A

was produced in conjunction with the play, to be used as a satirical

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

tape by the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. The video was shot on location in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

and featured professional Reagan impersonator Robert H. Schmidt as well as several

break dancers Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African Americans, African American and Puerto Rican Americans, Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse ...

credited as "The Doonesbury Break Crew". In 1985, the play was revived in Los Angeles. Four years later, as Reagan's presidency drew to a close, Swados and Trudeau updated the show as a

that aired on late night

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent net ...

in 1988 as part of the network's comedy programming block "

Cinemax Comedy Experiment Cinemax Comedy Experiment is an anthology series broadcast on Cinemax throughout the mid-to-late 1980s. Every episode was written and directed by a different standup comedian. The series was known for giving full creative freedom to those comedi ...

." This version was titled "Rap Master Ronnie: A Report Card".

Plot summary

The play is presented as sixteen interlinking musical numbers, each attacking some political position of Reagan's or examining the effects

Reaganomics Reaganomics (; a portmanteau of ''Reagan'' and ''economics'' attributed to Paul Harvey), or Reaganism, refers to the neoliberal economic policies promoted by U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. These policies are commonly associat ...

had on the American economy and culture of the 1980s. The story is presented within a

frame narrative A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

of Ronald Reagan,

Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in N ...

Edwin Meese Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931) is an American attorney, law professor, author and member of the Republican Party who served in official capacities within the Ronald Reagan's gubernatorial administration (1967–1974), the Reagan pres ...

, and several

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

agents (who serve as the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

) taking a limo into the

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

to film a

encouraging blacks to vote for him. Despite the title, only the opening number is performed in the style of

old-school hip hop Old-school hip hop (also spelled old skool) is the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music and original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983, as well as any hip hop that does not adhere to contem ...

, with the remainder of the songs being 1980s style pop.

Casts

Off-Broadway cast

* Reathel Bean as Ronald Reagan *

Catherine Cox Catherine Cox may refer to: * Catherine Cox (actress) * Catherine Cox (netball) Catherine Anne Cox (born 24 May 1976) is a former Australia netball international and current netball commentator. Between 1997 and 2013, she made 108 senior appe ...

Ernestine Jackson Ernestine Jackson (born September 18, 1942) is an American actress and singer. Early life Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, Jackson made her Broadway debut in 1967 as Irene Molloy in the all-black cast of '' Hello, Dolly!'' starring Pearl Bailey. ...

as Nancy Reagan/various *

Mel Johnson Jr. Mel Johnson Jr. is an American character actor and film producer from Long Island City, Queens, in New York City. Biography Johnson portrays the mutant cab driver and Mars secret agent Benny in the 1990 hit science fiction film '' Total Recall' ...

* Richard Ryder * "The Doonesbury Break Crew"

Music video

* Robert H. Schmidt as Ronald Reagan * "The Doonesbury Break Crew"

Film cast

Jim Morris James Samuel Morris Jr. (born January 19, 1964) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for two seasons with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Although brief, Morris' career is noted for making his M ...

as Ronald Reagan *

Reception

The play received generally mixed to positive reviews. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' praised the more overtly satirical numbers, particularly those related to Reagan's job policies and views on women's rights, but criticized Trudeau's efforts to be more serious, calling them "more sincere than compelling". The ''Times'' also criticized the play's portrayal of minorities, calling them "abstractions, not characters." Conversely, the television movie was negatively reviewed, with the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' calling it "incessantly unfunny" and criticizing the show for reusing the same jokes that several other comedians had been using about Reagan for years, without enough original material or insights.

In popular culture

The ''

Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, a ...

'' 1994 episode "

Homer Loves Flanders "Homer Loves Flanders" is the sixteenth episode of the The Simpsons (season 5), fifth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United States on Marc ...

" parodies the show as "Rappin' Ronnie Reagan," a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

that Homer owns on cassette tape. The show is referenced again in the episode "

Lisa on Ice "Lisa on Ice" is the eighth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It was the first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on November 13, 1994. In the episode, Lisa discovers that she ...

", with

Kent Brockman Kent Brockman is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Harry Shearer and first appeared in the episode "Krusty Gets Busted". He is a grumpy, self-centered local Springfield news anchor. Profi ...

delivering a sensationalized news headline: "President Reagan ''dyes''... his hair, says Garry Trudeau in his new musical comedy revue!"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doonesbury 1984 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals based on comic strips Ronald Reagan