Optimism! Yea, Yea!

I just saw Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson just a few performances before they close on Broadway. A girl in my improv group was raving about the show back when it was at the Public and I really wanted to see it there but couldn’t get my shit together.

The theater looked fantastic, it was decked out in a bazillion Christmas lights and chandeliers. The set reminded me of Rent meets American Idiot (which I despised, by the way) meets Roundhouse (you know, from Nickelodeon SNICK circa 1993?). There were all kinds of taxidermied heads on the walls and one full sized animal hung upside down over the audience. There was a complete drum kit set up on stage right. The ambiance was way way different than at most shows. I had to buy restricted view tickets because the show was sold out so I had a really odd angle for much of the action on stage left. I wasn’t worried at first but it turns out a lot happens over there. Also, understudy Heath Calvert went on for Benjamin Walker in the title role of Andrew Jackson. (Tess saw the show the night before I did and warned me that it seemed like Walker was losing his voice!) I had mixed feelings on this. I’ve learned to not feel gypped when I see an understudy because so much of the time the understudy is just as talented as the lead but this was the lead lead! Calvert did a nice job but seemed to need some warming up to get into the swing of things and really be the leading man. At first I was disappointed, Andrew Jackson decked in very tight jeans and a super fitted t-shirt is supposed to be dead sexy. I did not want to jump his bones until about the middle-end. I suspect some of that could be in the writing and character arc but I suspect more that Calvert was finding his footing.

I should have seen Bloody Bloody at the Public. There were a lot of things I really liked about the show, and I’ve heard others say this already, but Broadway sort of seemed a strange venue for such a show. Bloody Bloody is not your traditional musical. It’s not even your traditional rock musical (if there is such a thing). It takes place on a smaller stage, it has shorter musical numbers, there’s not a ton of dance numbers, and it’s sort of choppy and abrupt. It’s also edgy, provocative, and actually funny (I’m talking way more than hokey-predictable-musical funny). To clarify, I really really liked the show but can see how it confounds the average Broadway patron. The cast was all relatively young, I see more of an alternative, comedy, UCB-type crowd loving this show. That crowd does not necessarily spend Broadway ticket kind of money to attend theater.

For all these reasons that Broadway was not the perfect fit for Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, I love that it's on Broadway anyway. Bloody Bloody is fresh and modern and doesn’t use the same traditional boundaries that even the most risqué (which is not that risqué) Broadway shows abide by. I love that critics embraced the show and that something truly different and somewhat unconventional can win a spot, no matter how fleeting, on illustrious Broadway.

Jeff Hiller plays John Quincy Adams in the show: click here. He’s great and I've seen him perform tons of times at UCB (where he’s also great) and so without actually knowing the guy I kind of feel like I know the guy. He’s been in tons of commercials and he has surprised me by showing up in movies like Morning Glory and Ghost Town. Jeff Hiller made it to Broadway! Projects like Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson need to make it to Broadway so people like Jeff Hiller can make it to Broadway so people like me can keep hoping. Anything can happen in this crazy business, anyone can succeed, and in the most unlikeliest of vehicles.

I also decided to catch In The Heights before it closes on January 9^th. In The Heights is a very nice, mild show. The themes are very familiar and the format is predictable. The subject matter is kinda current and some of the music is vaguely interesting and different. The performances were decent and the show blends into Broadway seamlessly without making waves. All in all it was some forgettable shade of good. Love it or hate it, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is not the type of show you forget.