As America welcomes a new President, a musical theatre production at Amersham & Wycombe College looks at the lives of the wives of past Presidents.

As part of their BA(Hons) in Musical Theatre, students are presenting First Lady Suite by Michael John LaChuisa. The piece follows the Trumans, Roosevelts and the Kennedys as they reflect on life in the bubble of the White House in the ever-present gaze of the Press Corps. The piece is timely with the inauguration of President Obama and is a daring piece of musical theatre with a score by one of Broadway’s newest and most experimental composers.

The show is performed by BA(Hons) Musical Theatre students. Jordan Bearman, Christina Traylor and Andy Yiannaki, students who are part of the production team, comment: “First Lady Suite is a topical choice of production and the cast and crew can’t wait to get their teeth into Michael John LaChiusa’s musical. Our audiences can look forward to a witty and sometimes satirical evening, which will cause them hopefully to hum the music but also to reflect on the subject matter. One thing is certain – Michelle Obama has a lot to live up to, if First Lady Suite is anything to go by!”

First Lady Suite opens on Thurs 12 Feb at 7.30pm, at the Theatre-on-the-Hill at the College’s Amersham Campus. Further performances are on Fri 13 Feb and Sat 14 Feb (2.30pm and 7.30pm on Fri and Sat). Tickets are £8 (£5 concessions, £4 for Amersham & Wycombe College students) from boxoffice@amersham.ac.uk.

First Lady Suite is part of a double bill of Musical Theatre productions at the College, with Songs for a New World being performed the previous week. This musical revue transports us from the deck of a 1492 Spanish sailing ship to a ledge 57 stories above Fifth Avenue to meet a startling array of characters, from a young man who has determined that basketball is his ticket out of the ghetto to a woman whose dream of marrying rich nabs her the man of her dreams - and a soulless marriage. Songs for a New World opens on Thurs 5 Feb at 7.30pm, at the Theatre-on-the-Hill at the College’s Amersham Campus. Further performances are on Fri 6 Feb and Sat 7 Feb (2.30pm and 7.30pm on Fri and Sat). Tickets are £8 (£5 concessions, £4 for Amersham & Wycombe College students) from boxoffice@amersham.ac.uk.