You Have To See Meryl's Trump Impression

Three-time Oscar winning actor, Meryl Streep, can tackle almost any role, with full talent and grace. She's been on screen as Margaret Thatcher and suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, playing characters that run the gamut from the good, the bad and the ugly. She certainly got down with one of the more ugly ones when she was pictured on a New York City stage donning "orange face" make-up and a messy, withering bouffant. This unique look could only be attributed to one character so naturally, my only question is why Meryl Streep dressed up like Donald Trump in the first place.

Streep joined fellow actor Christine Baranski on stage Monday night as part of the annual Shakespeare in the Park Public Theater Gala event at the Delacorte Theater in New York's Central Park. The event is celebrated every year to pay tribute to the life and works of playwright William Shakespeare. Baranski, who was also Streep's co-star in Mamma Mia!, dressed up as Hillary Clinton and joined Streep to sing an updated rendition of “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” from Cole Porter’s Broadway hit Kiss Me, Kate. Streep clearly has no fear in stepping up to some pretty intense roles, and this portrayal of Trump might be one of her best yet.

Baranski sang unaltered lines from the song, including, "Brush up your Shakespeare and the women you will wow/ Just declaim a few lines from Othello, and they’ll think you’re a hell of a fella." Streep put a twist on some of the lyrics, singing, “We could do a deal... you’ll let me know, why it is all the women say no?” as she stretched out her arms in a Trump-like gesture.

The song is traditionally sung by a chorus of men in Kiss Me, Kate, a musical which is based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. The song is meant to advise men on how to pick up women, which is a hilarious commentary, especially given the context of Trump and his shaky relationship with women voters. The idea was thought up by Streep herself, with the Public Theater's artistic director telling the New York Times ,

Utterly her idea, beginning to end... There were skeptics, there were doubters, but one of those skeptics was not Meryl Streep. She was absolutely sure she could do it. None of us had seen her in costume or makeup, till she walked out tonight.

And just like that, Queen Meryl proved there isn't a role too scary for her to play, even Trump.