Michael Friedman to Headline Special Events for Plays & Players BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, 1/17-2/10

Composer and lyricist and Philadelphia native Michael Friedman will headline special events for Plays & Players' extended rock musical, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Pre-show talks, performances, and post-show talkbacks range from topics of musical theater, history, and Native American life surrounding Philadelphia premiere production.

Andrew Jackson was a rock and roll GOD. He rode his outsider bad-boy image and his populist movement into office with promises to reform and representing the "other" America. What happened next was broken promises and a Trail of Tears. The multiple Tony nominee and Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle winning high-octane rock musical will explode on Plays & Players' mainstage January 17-February 10 in a Philadelphia premiere production.

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. Purchase online at www.playsandplayers.org or by phone at 800-595-4849.

Performance Dates & Times/Schedule of Special Events:

January 17 at 7pm*
January 18 at 8pm*
January 19 at 8pm**
January 20 at 3pm - Post-Show Talkback with Michael Friedman, Composer and Lyricist for Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
January 23 at 7pm
January 24 at 7pm
January 25 at 8pm - Pre-show Museum Council of Philadelphia's University Networking Night
January 26 at 2pm
January 26 at 8pm - Historic Philadelphia Night
January 27 at 3pm - Post-Show Talkback with Andrew Shankman, Associate Professor of History at Rutgers University, Camden and Laura Pattillo, Assistant Professor of English at Saint Joseph's University
January 30 at 7pm
January 31 at 7pm
February 1 at 8pm - Pre-show First Friday MEMBERS ONLY Happy Hour, 5:30-7:30
February 2 at 8pm - FREE pre-show performance by Andrew Jackson Rock Band from 6:30-7:15pm!
February 3 at 3pm -
February 8 at 8pm (extended performance!) - Pre-show conversation at 6:30pm: THE LEGACY OF JACKSONIAN AMERICA - NATIVE AMERICAN LIFE TODAY with Vanessa Iyua and Joseph Aguilar from the University of Pennsylvania
February 9 at 8pm (extended performance!)
February 10 at 3pm (extended performance!)
*Tickets to January 17 & 18 previews of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson are $5 off all price points.
**Opening Night. Reception to follow.

January 20 at 3pm - Post-Show Talkback with Michael Friedman, Composer and Lyricist for Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Michael Friedman is a PHILADELPHIA NATIVE who attended Germantown Friends School and wrote the music and lyrics to Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which recently played at The Public Theater and on Broadway (Outer Critics Circle Award, Lortel Award.) As an Associate Artist with the acclaimed theater company The Civilians, he has written music and lyrics for Canard Canard Goose, Gone Missing, Nobody's Lunch, This Beautiful City, In the Footprint, and The Great Immensity. Other works include Saved and The Brand New Kid. An evening of his songs was featured in Lincoln Center's American Songbook series, and he received an OBIE Award for sustained achievement.

January 26 at 8pm - Historic Philadelphia Night

Featuring pre-show talk at 7pm from the organization dedicated to making our history relevant and real through interpretation, interaction and education, strengthening Greater Philadelphia's role as the destination to experience American history.

January 27 at 3pm - Post-Show Talkback with Andrew Shankman, Associate Professor of History at Rutgers University and Laura Pattillo, Assistant Professor of English at Saint Joseph's University

Andrew Shankman, who received his Ph.D. from Princeton University and is Associate Professor of History at Rutgers University, Camden, is the author of over two dozen essays and reviews. His book Crucible of American Democracy: The Struggle to Fuse Egalitarianism and Capitalism in Jeffersonian Pennsylvania was a History Book Club selection. Laura Grace Pattillo is an Assistant Professor of English at Saint Joseph's University and serves as Co-Artistic Director of the SJU Theatre Company. Her research focuses primarily on American drama with a specific interest in Southern and Appalachian plays, and she also wrote a chapter on drama for a 2005 reference book, The American President in Popular Culture.

February 2 at 8pm - FREE pre-show performance by Andrew Jackson Rock Band from 6:30-7:15pm!

The Andrew Jackson Music Program was started by Chris Argerakis in September, 2008, with the mission to provide a solid musical foundation for all students at the Andrew Jackson Elementary School, located in the Bella Vista/Passyunk Square area of South Philadelphia.The Andrew Jackson Rock Band was the inspiration for the 2011 ballet, "Jackson Sounds" performed by the acclaimed international ballet troupe, BALLET X. They have been the subject of articles featured in the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, WHYY and the South Philadelphia Review, and featured in a segment by Aditi Roy on NBC10.

February 8 at 8pm - Pre-show conversation at 6:30pm: THE LEGACY OF JACKSONIAN AMERICA - NATIVE AMERICAN LIFE TODAY with Vanessa Iyua and Joseph Aguilar from the University of Pennsylvania

Vanessa Iyua is a member of the Navajo Nation in Arizona. She attended the University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy and Practice and received her Master in Social Work in 2011. Today, Vanessa is the Associate Director at the Greenfield Intercultural Center on Penn campus. Joseph Aguilar is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. His primary research focuses on the archaeology of the Southwest U.S., with a specific interest in the European contact period among the historic?era Indian Pueblos of New Mexico.

Over 100 years old, Plays & Players was reborn in 2009 as a professional theater under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Daniel Student. Returning to its roots, Plays & Players seeks to invest in the talents of local emerging theater artists by providing a gathering place for practitioners to contribute to professional productions, expand their artistry through training, and connect and collaborate at the historic Plays & Players Theatre. The 2012-13 Season is dedicated to The American Presidency and debuted in November with a series of events titled An American Presidency: A Theatrical Response, including the popular Voices of a People's History, starring Michael J. Boryla and Guy Davis, and a presentation of Forearmed Productions' controversial Republican Theater Festival. The season will will culminate with The America Play and Other American Cousins, pairing Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Suzan Lori-Parks' seminal work about an African-American man who looks just like Abraham Lincoln with World Premiere short plays named for the play Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated, running April 4-21.

Pictured: "Point Blank" - Center: Joe Sabatino as Andrew Jackson. From Left: Corey Regensburg, Meggie Siegrist, Brendan Norton, Max Cove, Shannon Remley. Credit: Rachel Dukeman.

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