Writer-performer Tom Mula’s swaggering, nebbishy George W. Bush opens his ersatz cabaret fund-raiser singing the praises of Texas, where “We all love our mamas / We all read the Bible / And we’re all rich and white.” This simplistic bit of satire sets the tone for the ensuing 100 minutes, as Mula trots out all the familiar gripes against our “Texas kind of prez”: caters to the wealthy, tramples the environment, lacks brainpower. Only the occasional eye-opening fact–the average personal wealth of Bush’s cabinet members is $10.9 million–raises the evening above a potshot. Mula’s gleeful performance lacks polish (costars Ronald Keaton and C. JaiPearson fare better), Steve Scott’s staging is bumpy, and Steve Rashid’s tuneful songs seem largely unarranged. The show’s maudlin finale, sung in the persona of a soldier’s mother, is as cheap as the jingoistic Republican rhetoric Mula ridicules. Through 10/31: Thu 8 PM; Fri 9:30 PM; Sat 7 PM; Sun 2:30 PM. Bailiwick Repertory, Bailiwick Arts Center, 1229 W. Belmont, 773-883-1090. $26.
