Teaneck New Theatre to Present BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, 5/9-18

Teaneck New Theatre (TNT)-in association­­ with The Hackensack Cultural Arts Center (HCAC)-will present the New Jersey premiere of Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, a pop/rock musical with a new perspective on the seventh president of the United States. Music and lyrics are by Michael Friedman, with a book by Alex Timbers. Directed by Alex Perez (De La Guarda, Julian and Romero, Wanderlust) and Musical Direction by Charles Santoro (NYMF: Zapata! The Musical, Silence: The Musical)

Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson is the second production of TNT's 28th season and takes the stage May 9-18 at The Hackensack Cultural Arts Center, 39 Broadway, Hackensack. Curtain times are 8:00 PM. on Fridays, 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM on Saturdays, and 3:00 PM. on Sundays.

A recipient of the 2010 Outer Critics Circle Award as Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical and the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson also was nominated for two 2011 Tony Awards. Reviewing the Broadway production, Ben Brantley of The New York Times called the show "the most entertaining and most perceptive political theater of the season." Brantley went on to say that "Bloody Bloody presents a wild and wooly chapter in American history that feels anything but distant."

In this innovative take on Andrew Jackson, America's original nonconformist politician is reinvented all the way from his hardscrabble origins on Tennessee's frontier to his election as president and beyond. Known as Old Hickory, and with a larger-than-life personality, Jackson's approach to the nation's problems could be idiosyncratic and contradictory. The musical's focus includes Jackson's populism, his forced relocation of thousands of Native Americans, and his controversial love affair and marriage. Jackson's legacy is controversial as well. While some historians count him among the greatest of American presidents, he has also been described as "the closest we've come to an American Caesar."

The singing and dancing actors romping through this exhilarating work include Chuck La Corte (Andrew Jackson), Lorraine Ford DeMan (Storyteller) , Lindsay Lavin (Rachel Jakcson), Nick Cartusciello (Red Eagle), Kati Shwartz (Elizabeth) and Alexander Rivera (Black Fox). In the mix as well are Ian Schulz as James Monroe, Frank Chadwick as John C. Calhoun and Andrew Sr., Brendan Bartlett portraying John Quincy Adams, Christopher Perez playing Lyncoya Jackson, and Joey Braccino as Martin Van Buren.

Also shaking things up are Maggie Biedenkapp, Allison St. Rock, Michelle Stern, Anthony Capuano and Manny Rodriguez.

Tickets for Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson are $18; $15 for students and seniors; and $12 for theatre parties of 10 or more. For reservations and information, call TNT at (201) 692-0200. Check TNT's web site at www.go-tnt.org for directions to the theatre and for credit card ticket purchases.

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