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New Line Theatre Presents BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON 9/27-10/20
By: Sally Henry Fuller Sep. 20, 2012
The 22nd season at New Line Theatre opens with alternative, adult musical theatre with the St. Louis premiere of the outrageous rock musical BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, running Sept. 27-Oct. 20, 2012. Performances are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, at 8:00 p.m., at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend. September 27 is a preview. An audacious, hard-rocking mix of historical fact and fiction redefines America's controversial seventh president, through a time-bending funhouse mirror that reveals the jacked-up political landscape of America in 2012. This show contains adult content and adult language.
Tickets are on sale now through all Metrotix outlets, including the Fox Theatre and the Edison Theatre at Washington University, or by calling 314-534-1111.
HIGH SCHOOL DISCOUNT: New Line has created a new ticket discount for high school students. Any student with a valid school ID can get a $10 ticket at any performance, with the code word for that show, which will be posted on New Line's Facebook page, at http://www.facebook.com/NewLineTheatre.
EDUCATORS DISCOUNT: New Line now offers all currently employed educators half price tickets on any Thursday night, with work ID or other proof of employment. Not valid in connection with other discounts or offers, available only at the door, and subject to availability.
MILITARY DISCOUNT: New Line now offers all active duty military personnel half price tickets on any Thursday night, with ID or other proof of active duty status. Not valid in connection with other discounts or offers, available only at the door, and subject to availability.
New Line also continues to offer the COLLEGE FREE SEATS, ten seats put aside for every performance, free to anyone with a valid college student ID, one ticket per ID. The Free Seats will be available at the theatre box office, from 7:00 p.m. to 7:55 p.m. on performance nights only.
New Line Theatre says shootouts, smallpox and scalpings – growing up on the American Frontier could be killer! Hoping to kick some British butt and bitch-slap the Spaniards, thirteen-year old Andrew Jackson joins the Army and grows up to become America’s first populist president and the country's greatest rock star since George Washington. Yes, It's the early nineteenth century, the Age of Jackson, and America's seventh President is creating the Democratic Party, driving the Native Americans West, doubling the size of the country, and wearing the tightest jeans in politics.
With music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and a script by Alex Timbers, this rowdy blend of outrageous comedy, anarchic theatricality and an infectious emo rock score overflows with insightful, comic parallels to our dysfunctional politics today, right from the show's aggressive opening number, "Populism, Yea Yea!"
New Line has assembled an all-star cast of veteran New Liners, including John Sparger (Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, Johnny Appleweed, Evita) as Jackson, with D. Mike Bauer, Stephanie Brown, Brian Claussen, Mike Dowdy, Zachary Allen Farmer, Amy Kelly, Nicholas Kelly, Todd Micali, Taylor Pietz, Sarah Porter, BC Stands, and Chrissy Young. Almost half this cast also appeared in last season's critically acclaimed monster hits Cry-Baby and High Fidelity. Scott Miller directs Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and Justin Smolik leads the New Line Band. Amy Kelly designs costumes, with Kenneth Zinkl designing lighting, Scott L. Schoonover designing the set, and Donald Smith designing sound.
The Public Theatre’s artistic director Oskar Eustis wrote about the show in the cast album liner notes, "I think Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is an experiment appropriate for our times. It may be about our seventh president, but it tackles the core of American populism – that ebullient, sentimental, no-nonsense, self-pitying, anti-intellectual, rowdy energy that is at the core of our national identity – with a precision and wit that speaks totally to our moment. The show invokes reactionary pleasures in order to savagely criticize them. It is a dangerous game, but Friedman and Timbers play it brilliantly. This is who we are, and if it’s horrifying, it can also be a lot of fun. What a contradiction, America. . . Who says political theatre can't rock?"
For more information about the show, visit http://www.newlinetheatre.com/bbajpage.html
New Line Theatre is a professional company dedicated to involving the people of the St. Louis region in the exploration and creation of daring, provocative, socially and politically relevant works of musical theatre. New Line Theatre was created in 1991 at the vanguard of a new wave of nonprofit musical theatre just starting to take hold across the country. The company has given birth to several world premiere musicals over the years and has brought back to life many shows that did not do well in their original New York productions. Altogether, New Line has produced 67 musicals and 5 concerts of theatre songs since 1991. New Line Theatre was recently given its own entry in the latest edition of the prestigious Cambridge Guide to American Theatre.
For other information, visit New Line Theatre's full-service website at www.newlinetheatre.com. All programs are subject to change.
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