Michael Moore’s ‘The Terms of My Surrender’

‘THE TERMS OF MY SURRENDER’: Michael Moore. Photo: Joan Marcus

MICHAEL MOORE: THE TERMS OF MY SURRENDER
Written by Michael Moore
Directed by Michael Mayer
Through October 22, 2017
Belasco Theatre
111 West 44th Street.
(212-239-6200), www.MichaelMooreOnBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Hatred, bigotry, antisemitism and white supremacy have gotten so out of hand in this country that it is time to listen to Michael Moore. Whether you liked or disliked him in the past as a person, or thought his viewpoints and thinking were too radical, you must hear and listen to him now. If you have been revolted by Donald Trump’s lack of action and viewpoints, intolerable behavior and the many ways he has divided the nation, it is time to listen to Michael Moore.  If the last seven months have seemed like seven interminable years, and you have had enough of the “fire and fury,” “de-nuke the world,” bombastic rhetoric of a maniacal, egotistical, showboating, narcissistic, bullying, and totally incompetent president, one who calls the media “fake news” and spews “alternate facts,” then I suggest you rush to the Belasco Theatre for a cathartic, amusing and healing evening in the theater.

Sure, there are myriads of late-night TV show hosts and comics who have been spreading the gospel of anti-Trumpism: Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, Trevor Noah, Seth Meyer, etc. Thank God for all of them. However, there is a certain filter to them that has to fit to the confines and restraints of television parameters.  Michael Moore has no filter, he is passionate in telling the truth (although at times preachy) about the mess that this man has created in the White House, the nation and around the world with our allies.

After all, Michael Moore is a documentarian (Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Roger and Me). He is now documenting Trump and all the lunacy that surrounds him. The evening is not all Trump-bashing; there are many amusing anecdotes from his youth where a majority of one (a shy Michael Moore) makes a difference. It is his stories that make the show memorable and it is best that he tells them himself. He also has tales of Flint, Michigan and the daily death threats he’s received ever since he won the Oscar for Bowling in Columbine and the speech he made that night at the Academy Awards. The man has many anecdotes to tell and they are very heartfelt. Michael Mayer, the director, must be given a lot of credit for pacing these tales and the passion of the man telling them.

If Trump has his “base”, it’s only fair that Michael Moore has his “base” as well and hopefully it will be a growing one. There is even a plea for him to run for president in 2020. One can only hope.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published August 17, 2017
Reviewed at August 16, 2017 press performance.

‘THE TERMS OF MY SURRENDER’: Michael Moore. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘THE TERMS OF MY SURRENDER’: Michael Moore. Photo: Joan Marcus