Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

The ever rare theater review.

I had seen ads for Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson all over the manhattan subways all Fall.  I hadn't heard much about it and I didn't really have an opinion on it except that the tag line "History just got all sexy pants" made me smile, and the label of "The Emo History Lesson", made me cringe.  I saw a few short ads on TV for it and was colored unimpressed.

I don't want to sound like I'm someone who thinks they're too intellectually advanced for Musical Theater (like more roommates, for example), on the contrary, I am a big fan of a lot of musical theater.  I was frequently in musicals during high school and college.  I even prefer seeing a musical over most other plays.

The term "emo", however, I'm a little prejudiced towards.

Then, recently, I saw an article mentioning that BBAJ was already set to close after New Years despite overwhelmingly good reviews.  Peaked by the extremely positive reviews by critics everywhere from Rolling Stone to The New York Times to The Wall Street Journal, and maybe a little curious because I might occasionally listen to emo-rock as a guilty pleasure, I decided to check out the show this past week.

After giving it a day to digest, I can say, if there is only one thing you can spend $40-$120 before Jan. 2nd, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson should be that thing.

There was a lot of awesome in this show.

The show gives a great first impression before it even starts.  The theater is decorated with tons of red christmas lights and ornate lighting fixtures (also with red lights), accented with paintings of historical figures form the early 19th century and full size casts of alligators on the wall, deer heads along the top of the stage, and a cow: hog-tied from the ceiling.  It was like a sort of red-neck macabre.  Very cool.

The entire time, sitting waiting for the show to start, they were blaring alternating Spoon with Tegan and Sara songs over the PA system.  Two bands I happen to enjoy listening to even when I'm not in a theater.  Very cool.

Then the show actually started.

BBAJ is a biography of the life of Andrew Jackson, after a fashion.  It would best be described as a satiric historical fiction.  Andrew Jackson as a rock star.  Riding a wave of fans into Washington to oust a bunch of out of touch elitists.  The show takes more than a few liberties with exact historical accuracy but the story is fast paced, extremely funny, interesting, entertaining, and very, very cool.

This was the first show I think I've ever seen on Broadway with the entire original cast intact (no understudies) and they were all very good.  Lucas Near-Verbrugghe was especially hilarious as an effeminate Martin Van Buren.  There really were so many good scenes and performances I'm not going to try to go through them all because it would just take way too long.

The music is used more as a tool to comment on or explain the goings on in the story than it is to get at the audience emotionally, more in the vain of a Urinetown than a Wicked, but it is very well done in its own right and you will occasionally find yourself thinking "Wow, I almost didn't notice with all that's going on up there, but this song is actually really good!" a few times throughout the show.

And I loved how the "orchestra" was a three-piece punk band on the stage, frequently joined by members of the cast on guitars.

These guys were he-laaar-ious

The most impressive thing about the show was how well it stuck to its surprisingly complex political message.  Perhaps this was my prejudice, but I really wasn't expecting so much depth from a show where the main musical refrain was: "Populism, yea, yea!" 

At first, it is hard to figure out which political party or politician the BBAJ is taking aim at.  There are a few not so subtle shots at George W. Bush, and it is pretty easy to connect the dots to Sarah Palin at several moments, but there is also some pretty clear criticism, if not of Barack Obama himself, then definitely of some of his more vocal supporters.  

Then, it dawns on you: they aren't so much lampooning politicians, as they are criticizing the willful ignorance of the American people, the nature of the political machine, and the failure of either to mature since the early 1800s.

BBAJ nails anyone who ever voted for someone just because they thought they were "cool", or thought "I'd like to have a beer with that candidate" firmly to the wall.  Because while it is fun and easy to vote for someone who reminds you of yourself (not to mention an ego trip), you might want to think about it first, because you probably don't know much about how to run a country.  

So, maybe you should try to learn something about the issues (and not just learn more of what you want to hear) before you hit up the polls next time, instead of just voting for someone because "hey man, we should be able to make socialism work" or their daughter "danced" on a prime time network TV show.  Being president is a really hard job, and it takes a lot of intelligence, patience, tact to be good at.  Not just charisma.

I'd like to think it wasn't the case, but both sides of the political aisle are filled with people who are selfish and spoiled and end up convincing themselves that what ever they want, is what the country should do, rather than the other way around (because, hey, it's like, really hard to understand some of that healthcare shit, okay?).

It's almost like, the adolescent attitude of the music and the show was an allegory for the American people.  Woah, mind. blown.

I don't want to over sell the show too much.  The humor at times is a little sophomoric and the frenetic pacing sacrifices some character development and doesn't afford the audience much of a chance to take in the more tender moments of the show (though, they are few).  Although there are several catchy and memorable tunes, I wouldn't say any really qualify as a show stopper.  Still, the great far outweighs the good and makes the not-so-good seem nonexistent in this show.

An amazing show more than worth your time and money.  It is a shame to see it closing so soon.  Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, you are outstandingly underrated, and gone too soon.  We hardly knew ye.