I don't know why I'd heard of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson - I get email on a regular basis from the Public Theater, and it seemed to enjoy a good off-broadway run. When it made the move to Broadway, it started getting Buzz. But then I saw an ad in Time Out New York (which I am still getting! I love you, TONY!)
And I mean, really? I for one am totally in favor of history getting all sexypants.It was my major after all, and how could I say no to an emo-rock musical about our 7th President? I would totally have a beer with AJ (and I don't even drink beer!) and his tight, tight jeans.
The scene is set the second you step into the theater - it's bathed in red light, and moody rock music is blaring out of the speakers. And then our frontier hero emerges and commences to rock. I'm telling you, I was hooked the second the show started. It was fast, funny, and relevant. Told entirely in 2010 vernacular, we followed Andrew Jackson's progress with the assistance of a storyteller - until he shoots her in the neck, growling "I'll take it from here!" Ooooh, yeah, he's SO that guy!
Some of my favorite moments - "meanwhile back in Washington..." introducing the power players: John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams ("If my father got to be the president, I should be president too!" and who later exclaimed, upon being "elected" president "I'm SO EXCITED! I never win ANYTHING!"), Van Buren ("damn it, VanBuren! Why do you have to be such a motherfucker??") and all of the others came dancing out to a Spice Girls song... One of them (maybe JQA or Van Buren?) exclaimed "How laissez un-fair!" Oh, my history geek heart was a-flutter. I remember learning about all of these guys in Mr. Daiberl's class! We had to identify pictures of John C. Calhoun and Henry Clay. I wonder how he'd react to the line in the show that James Monroe was a "douchebag"....
When the election of 1824 got stolen from Jackson (winner of the popular vote but not the electoral, I think?) he sat downstage, looking dejected, and the following came blasting out... "You're standing on the edge of nowhere.... there's only one way out, and your heart's gotta go there..." Yep, it was Cher's "Song for the Lonely" which played, disco ball and all as time passed and Andrew Jackson geared up for his 1828 campaign. You gotta love a show that invokes the Cher.
Jackson won the election with flying colors, becoming the first "People's President." He pledged to be the voice of the people, who rallied around him and voted for him because of his awesome tight jeans and because they'd totally have a beer with him, you know?
But it's hard, right, because the people don't actually know what they want (Just look at Dancing with the Stars. I mean, Bristol Palin? In the final? Really? I liked the girl, I did! She seemed like a really nice person. And major snaps to her for her growth as a dancer. That shit is hard! But still. The final? Really?) and Jackson realized that he couldn't just be Best Friend in Chief - he had to make the hard decisions himself - about the National Bank (a weird factoid just popped into my head about Jackson and the gold standard...) and the Indians and all the rest of it. He'd lost his wife (she died of grief, which as the show points out, is "the kind of shit that happened in the 19th century") and dedicated his life to serving the people (Populism, yeah, yeah!). Major bummer, dude. Is he still that guy?
The show ends reflecting on Jackson's legacy - with terror at home, unstable borders, the rich in charge and the working class suffering (sound familiar?), this Jackson thought of himself as a hero, doing what had to be done on behalf of the country. And on that score, you know, he did awesome - he doubled the size of the country, kicked out the English and French and the Spanish and solved the "Indian Problem." Yeah, Jackson really put the "Man" in "Manifest Destiny." But, the storyteller, back as an angel, points out that there are some who'd argue that Jackson was actually something of an American Hitler, taking drastic measures against the native population. I didn't really think about Jackson's legacy much one way or another. They certainly don't tell you all the good stuff in school (like the whole Jackson marrying someone who was already married thing. Wouldn't you have paid more attention in history class if you were learning stuff like that??)
But anyway, I loved it. I recommend it and would see it again and again. If you're in New York, go and see it. If you're not in New York, go there and see it. Stay at the Belleclaire - no bugs!
I left, happy, splashing through Times Square in the rain, singing the song "The Battle of New Orleans" - all together now! "In 1814 we took a little trip, along with Col. Jackson down the mighty Mississip..."
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