Trump is Michael Moore’s #1 target in his Broadway debut, “The Terms of my Surrender.” “How did we get here,” he asks rhetorically. Forget all the pundits and prognosticators; it was just a year ago when we thought our president’s candidacy was merely a joke, or a publicity stunt, but Moore, with his ear to the ground of the heartland’s disenfranchised older white men foretold the outcome of our election. He tried to get Hillary to travel to places like Wisconsin, but his calls to Brooklyn headquarters never went through. And now deploying an arsenal of jokes, sight gags, SNL-worthy skits, Michael Moore lands at the Belasco Theater, to incite his audience to action, give hope, and most of all, to entertain. He’s even saved a box for the first family, should any Trump care to laugh, or just take him on.

Surrender we must too, to the oppressive ironies of daily tweets and our angst. Moore’s indictment is as much toward the left as to the right, to Democrats and Republicans, citizens who have given in to dumbing down and hate mongering. In the tradition of American individualism, he applauds every life choice that led him toward activism, from taking on the Elk’s Caucasians-only admission policy, to Reagan’s insensitive trip to an SS cemetery in Bitburg, Germany, to Glenn Beck’s death-to-Michael-Moore broadcast; he provides the backstory to Flint’s deadly water, to the post-9/11 attempt to suppress his book, rescued by a New Jersey librarian who just happened to be among the first-night audience, along with Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, Rev. Al Sharpton, Dan Rather, Rosie O’Donnell, Christie Brinkley, Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue, and many more.

In talk-show mode, the plan is to have a guest every night. (Bryan Cranston came to a preview, and Stephen Colbert agreed to join Moore down the road.) For the opening night, Gloria Steinem and Moore chatted about the Equal Rights Amendment, never passed, among other injustices. After his last bow, they paraded to a dinner at the Bryant Park Grill, accompanied by a slice of Americana, drum and fife. Several reporters awaited, wanting to discuss all things Trump with Moore. But they missed the point. “The Terms of My Surrender” is vintage Michael Moore in another medium. “People may learn something here,” he told me, “All I want to do is entertain.”

Regina Weinreich

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