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Recently, we’ve been inundated with political nostalgia and, despite my inexplicable love for Ulysses S Grant, I’m not sure I believe what all the hoopla is about. Sure, Lincoln gave birth to Joseph Gordon Levitt and slays vampires at night, but I’m still not exactly sure why when we have the coolest president to ever live, we should be so concerned with those that came before?
That is, of course, unless you’re Andrew Jackson and you’re a rock and roll deity. Now THAT’S a Destiny I would like to Manifest. (Get it? Get it?)
Plays & Players presents the Philadelphia premiere production of the hit rock and roll musical, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, a “brazen political commentary” about Old Hickory, the executive-branched bad boy who swept into office with the Democratic-Republican party under the guise of representing and reforming the “other” America. (Please tell me he didn’t use the phrase “The 47% Percent.”) If you know your history, this did not work out, as the Native Americans can tell you. (i.e. Trail of Tears)
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is a laugh-out-loud, social critique that mixes with a Brechtian self-awareness resulting in brazen satire that leaves no current political movement, from George W. Bush to the Tea Party to Obama’s “Yes We Can,” unscathed. Featuring songs such as “Populism, Yea, Yea!,” “I’m So That Guy” and “Rock Star,” Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson compares the original dueling Dalton (Joe Sabatino as Andrew Jackson) to contemporary rock and roll American patriotic excess.
The cast features familiar faces (Brendan Norton, Kristen Norine, Tim Rinehart) and a band of emerging newcomers to the Philadelphia theatre scene (Allison Caw, Jamison Foreman, Sam Nagel, Corey Regensburg, Shannon Remley, Meggie Siegrist, Max Cove, Billy Kametz, and Josh Totora).
Opening night is tonight, January 19 at 8PM. The show runs until February 10 and features many special events, including pre- and post-show talks and performances from such rock stars as Andrew Shankman, Associate Professor of History at Rutgers, the Andrew Jackson Rock Band, and killer composer (and Philly native) Michael Friedman. For full information of special events, please see www.playsandplayers.org.
All performances at Plays & Players Theatre, at 1714 Delancey Place. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door for general admission. Discounted group rates of $15 for groups of 10 or more and student rates of $20 are also available.* Tickets may be purchased online at www.playsandplayers.org or by phone at 800-595-4849.
Keep on rockin’ in the pre-Civil War world. Clarke, out!
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