UN, TROIS, DEUX Gina Gershon (center) plays Melania Trump in "The First Annual Trump Family Special." She was with Ivana (Suzanne Sole), left, and Marla Maples (Marissa Mulder), Donald J. Trump's ex-wives, at the press conference.
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THEY'VE BROUGHT BACK THE EX-WIVES! But of course that wasn't the big news at the press conference for "The First Annual Trump Family Special" on Aug. 22 in the tasteful James Madison Room at the tasteful Princeton Club in New York. The news was the host.
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI (and here I feel as if I should type in the name of the actor who played him, but it was really Scaramucci), who was the Trump administration's communications director for about 30 seconds last year (actually, it was more like 10 days), hosted the session, taking questions from good-natured audience plants and pretending to forget at one point who Marla Maples was (Donald's Georgia-peach second wife, a.k.a. Tiffany's mom). Scaramucci thanked people for coming and closed the midday Midtown event with "This is my second press conference."
CAST ON A HOT TIN ROOF Trump family members, from left: Ivana (Sole), Marla (Mulder), Ivanka (Lisa St. Lou), Donald Jr. (Brian Sills) and Eric (Peter Hargrave). ______________________________________________
It was hard to tell from the Q&A and the musical performances whether the show, which opens at the Triad theater-cabaret space on the Upper West Side on Sept. 13, is good, great, bad or indifferent. But one thing was clear: Gina Gershon, who plays Melania and made a separate, Elvis-in-a-jumpsuit-worthy entrance, is the undisputed star.
Some had hoped for LAURA BENANTI (wearing white in photo), who has done Melania impersonations on Stephen Colbert's late-night CBS talk show in recent months, but nah, that's not gonna happen right now.
And then there are the Trump men.
"I have never had a collusion in my life," Donald Trump Jr. (BRIAN SILLS, left in photo) claimed during the conference. Eric (PETER HARGRAVE) was equally articulate. Asked if he had anything to add, Eric promptly and confidently replied, "Not to my recollection."
Gershon-as-Melania put it simply. "It goes without saying that this will be best," she said, referring to the production. At another point, she shared some international wisdom, "In Slovenia we have a saying. Never trust a man who overdyes his hair." Maybe the lines aren't that inherently hilarious, but Gershon sells them.
As for Ivanka (LISA ST. LOU, also a co-writer), she summed up her character early on: "People like it when I say things because I'm beautiful and poised."
"The First Annual Trump Family Special," Triad, 158 West 72nd Street, trumpfamilyspecial.com, Written and directed by Danny Salles. Music by Tor Hyams and Lisa St. Lou. Thursdays at 9:30 p.m., Sept. 13-Dec. 6, Limited run.