Hey Kids this week Rhett and Carlos are joined by a special guest reviewer, our lovely and talented friend David we hope you enjoy our review and don’t forget to sign up to follow our blog. See ya on the Boards.
Carlos’s Review
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
April 9th
Public Theater
Arriving my customary 8 hours before the rest of the crew joined me, well ok more like half an hour early. I pushed my through the throng of Happy Hour goers to get to the bar and order my customary drink, all together now, Bourbon and Soda mostly Bourbon. Tonight’s pre theater rally point is Pieces, as Stalwart of Christopher Street bars. This is usually a jumping off spot or a place to end up as one begins or ends what is known as the Christopher Street Shuffle. Pieces located on Christopher Street between 6th ave and Gay Street. Pieces have always been known for their multi demographic appeal. , and with somewhat friendly bartenders and an always varied selection of entertaining videos playing. This bar offers a great and almost unheard of Happy Hour, from 2pm (Yes 2pm) till 8pm you can get $2 well and beer drinks. And in this uncertain economic time, it’s nice to know that you can get faded on $20 bucks as early as 4pm trust me I have done it. I digress, so this evening Rhett and I were joined by David and Nate. It’s always fun to make a “girls night out” and this evening proved to be just that. So after a couple of rounds we made our way to the Public Theater in Astor place a nice brisk 15 min walk from the bar. Arriving 20 min prior to Curtain (SHOCKING!!!! I know) we chatted and carried on like good friends do and made our way into what would be a very interesting 90 min.
What happens when Schoolhouse rock, meets Robot Chicken, Meets South Park with an Emo rock sound track?
You get Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, this strange history lesson on America’s 7th President. I know you must be thinking a musical about Andrew Jackson? Who’s going to want to see a musical about the guy who sent 1000’s of Native American’s on a death march to what is now Oklahoma? Well to be honest this History geek right here, come on who wouldn’t want to be entertained with songs like”
“Populism Yeah, Yeah” or a Fucked up version of the Classic “10 little Indians Song.”
This production started out at the Center Theater Group in Los Angeles, a few years of reworking and smaller stages it has been morphed into this amazing 90 min show at the NEWMAN within the Public Theater. From the moment you enter the theater you are already hit but a sense of something cool is going to happen. The house is an extension of the stage and it looks like a cross between the The Box (an ultra hip and shabby chic night club) and Alice’s Tea Cup. The walls are adorned with the portraits of ex presidents, policy and law makers from the early 19th century. Decidedly the band is on stage for the production, as to give a heads up to the tongue and cheek that would be on the evening’s agenda. The drummer has a on his Bass Drum a Stylized A J with a lighting bolt between the A and J ala AC/DC. Jackson’s comes on to the stage and asks the audiences are you ready to Rock? And thus the show begins.
Ok some quick background:
Andrew Jackson
Born 1767 Died 1845 age 78
7th President of the United States
1829-1837
Military Governor of Florida 1821
Commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans 1815
He was a polarizing figure in 1820’s and 1830’s American Politics, helped shape the Modern Democratic Party.
Married to Rachel Donelson Robards; who was still married when Jackson was courting her and there is some legal grey area as to if she was actually divorced when she married Jackson, and who sadly died two weeks after Jackson’s 1828 Presidential Victory.
Believer in Populism
Populism: is a type of political-social thought which juxtaposes “the People” against “the Elites”, and urges social and political system changes. Cambridge dictionary defines Populism as “political ideas and activities that are intended to represent ordinary people’s needs and wishes.”
Jackson’s legacy as president and political figure in the Pantheon of American Presidents is to this day a bit of a question mark. Was he a champion for popular democracy, a champion for the liberty of White Men? Or was he an American Hitler, as from the Playbill an excerpt from a Los Angeles Times Article by Carl Byker, suggests quote” Is he a president whose accomplishments we should celebrate or a president whose failures we should apologise for?” And with his support of Slavery and the heavy handedness on his policy of Indian Removal, Historians to this day take a mixed view of this man who was pivotal in re shaping American Politics. With this said, it is an ambitious task that Alex Timbers, writer and director, along with Michael Friedman, Music and Lyrics, tackle how to portray this man in a different light It also had tones of comparing the most current revival of Populism, basically the election and candidates of 2008 vs. the election and candidates of 1828. One of the down falls of Populism is that one has to be everything to everyone and therein lays the problem, as our current president is starting to realize.
With a book that is at times funny, harsh and well researched, and music that harkens back to Spring Awakening, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson has a taken what could have been a dry history lesson to a whole new level, and allows the audience to take a look back on their 11th grade History lesson with a contemporary and different view.
Handsome, Heartthrob Benjamin Walker as Jackson gives a rock star performance with some great and cutting edge humor and is supported by a vibrantly funny cast that has the timing down to a science, and with Lighting by Donyale Werle and Set design by Justin Townsend, this team framed the ensemble with an edgy East Village feel. I will say with a few tweaks this production could totally make the great leap up town to Broadway. Notable performances include the The Storyteller, Colleen Werthmann and in her motorized wheelchair add, a bit of well humored essential Historical facts to the performance even after surviving a gun shot to the neck (wink). The Comic styling of Jeff Hiller as John Quincy Adams and Lucas Near-Verbrugghe as a Twinkie munching Martin Van Buren added to the richness of this extremely lively, fresh, and enthusiastic cast and crew. The one thing that I noticed about this show was that it did not take its self to seriously. Which is essential when you are trying present subject matter that can easily be misconstrued as pretentious?
It’s new and original theater like this, that I am reminded why I love Musical Theater, this show left my colleagues and I to have a very loud and long discussion on the street of Manhattan about the production it’s self and about Andrew Jackson in general. (Read David’s review for a more in depth angle of this point)
All I have to say is Andrew F*cking Jackson for President
On a scale of Top, Bottom or Versatile,
I give it a Versatile, with a lot of heavy petting.
David’s Review
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
If you wiki Andrew Jackson you will discover, as I have, that not only was he the 7th president of our nation and the founder of the Democratic Party but he also was known as "Old Hickory" in reference to his toughness and stubbornness as a leader. The reference is notable because it serves as a veiled theme in the new rock musical”BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON" now playing at the public theater. Director and writer Alex Timbers has tried to make what could easily be an hour on the History channel into a modern rock musical in the vein of "Spring Awakening" meets "Rocky Horror" with much success and much confusion.
"Bloody" starts with a comedic look at the upbringing and early life of Jackson starting in his birthplace. With highlights that include the deaths of his immediate family, the battle of New Orleans, his contradictory adoption of a Native American child, and his true love slash adulterous relationship with a woman named Rachel. Bored yet???? ) Well you shouldn't be because the incredibly talented cast led by a hot and heavy Benjamin Walker, arm themselves with a fresh score and take aim at killing the boringness that made one want to sleep in history class (or possibly want to shoot their history teacher lol) and tries to turn it into American History that one would work out to on their IPOD.
Walker Arrives like a rock star who could easily be on an Abercrombie ad and holds his own creating a caricature of Jackson that is comedic and informative if not controversial to some modern day historians. "I'm fucking Andrew Jackson” He announces and then we fly off on a Spinal Tap take on the former President. Walker is charismatic, what his voice lacks his body and comedic timing make up for and his cast mates provide him with professional vocals that more than make up for his lack of range. The music is sometimes disjointed from the actual story but shows impressive emerging talent from creator Michael Friedman.
Ranging from an interesting and morbidly funny take on the "Ten little Indians" kids song to a song dedicated to the glory's of Populism, Friedman is both funny and innovative with his writings incorporating jabs at, not only the old politics of Jackson's day, but also today's "Tea" obsessed versus "yes we can" politics. All the while we are taken on a journey through history that comes to settle on the darkest part of Jackson's presidency, the Trail of Tears Massacre. It is here where the musical finds it seriousness, and to some extent its heart. It is obvious that the creators have their own view on "Old Hick" and his treatment of the American Indian race (which is something to be debated.) But in a rock musical that starts fun the sharp turn to the land of serious seemed a little too jarring.
And here is where I take issue with the new kind of musical that has emerged in the past years. Call me crazy but although I have deep appreciation for the evolution the that art form I find myself often confused on the divorcing relationship going on recently between song and the spoken word in the modern day musical. Gone it seems are the days when the song advanced the story that provides a vehicle for the narrative to breathe and grow. Now we have songs that, taken out of context, could never be traced back to their original show. Do not get me wrong "Bloody" has moments where the songs do carry the story but the connection seemed tempered at best and in a musical that tries to take on a this much history I found that there could have been much less tongue and cheek and more depth and information then what was presented in the music. I am not suggesting that the tone of the songs was wrong, quite to the contrary; the problems lay in the lack of imagination in the lyric not the score. I understand that I may be in the minority in this instance, especially because my fellow theatergoers almost stoned me to suggest the play was anything but a brilliant piece of fresh air, but I found myself enjoying but not absorbing the story which, in my opinion, should be the epicenter of any work on the stage. It is one thing to write a great song it is another to write many songs that tell a story together.
On a Scale of Top, Bottom, or Versatile
I give this show a Versatile
Rhett’s Review
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Friday April 9th
It's always fun to get a group of gays (a.k.a: a "swish" of Gays!...lol) together to go to the theater and compare notes plus opinions afterwards. My fab 4/sex + the city girls consisted of Me (Carrie), Carlos (Samantha), Nate (Charlotte), + David (Miranda). 4 single fabulous gals, who needed no excuse to slip on a pair of Blahniks, grab a cocktail (or 6) and hit the town!
"Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" has no celebrity names, a terrible title, and a bizarre subject matter...AND I LOVED IT!
When you walk into the public theater you know right away that you are not in midtown anymore! The ceiling and walls are covered with Tibetan tapestry, and paisley prints; faded revolutionary paintings and presidential portraits. It's like a civil war era version of a "Be-In" from 'Hair'!
The show is a 90 minute non stop high energy whirlwind of native American-genocide rock ballads, and sado-masochistic love songs.
As Andrew Jackson, Benjamin Walker is like walking colonial porn! Part Jonathan Groff, part Cheyenne Jackson, Walker isn't perfect by any means, BUT he IS perfect for this role and this show.
He is supported by a small cast that gives new meaning to the term Versatility. Smutty revolutionary girls gone wild, and queenie campy confederate boys constantly changing costumes mix it up as whiffenpoof uptight American forefathers, and modern day emo rockers.
As usual, I have to give props to 1 or 2 stand out performances. Although Walker is undoubtedly the Commander in Chief, James Barry steals the 11 o'clock number, a Jason Mraz/Greenday-esque power ballad self accompanied on acoustic guitar. Now David (Miranda) would use this number as a perfect example of a song that while pretty, smart and well sung, didn't propel the story and just seemed out of place. To him I say this...Bite Me!...no seriously, I believe that the inconsistent, slightly patchwork-y layout of the play actually helps motivate the audience to feel something. The story IS in there. And even if you don't get it all, you will at least feel the heartbeat and emotional depth that these songs convey.
I also have to mention Colleen Werthman, who channels a paraplegic Rachel Dratch, as The Storyteller-who, even after being shot in the neck, still lingers to excite and inform the audience about our sexy seventh president.
I would describe Bloody,Bloody as Spring Awakening meets Hair, with a dash of Avenue Q (tongue planted firmly in cheek!), and in my opinion, that is a recipe for Bloody, Bloody Brilliance! With a nip and a tuck I could happily see this twisted, sexy, innovative show movin' on up to the great white way!
Extended through May, RUN don't walk to see Walker in "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" at the Public Theater!
On a scale of Top, Bottom, or Versatile, I give this one a Power Top (but a little manscaping wouldn't hurt!)
Below is WYNC's Interview with Benjamin Walker and Alex Timbers
Enjoy!
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