Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

On Wednesday night, we opened the Northwest premier of the off-Broadway hit (and the Broadway non-hit) BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON at ArtsWest Playhouse. I have loved working on this wacky show! It's fun, it's funny, it's irreverent and relevant, it's kinda something special, in my book. It's a large group of people, and somehow, everyone is pretty damned awesome, both onstage and off. I felt like the new kid coming in, since it seemed like everyone knew each other and I knew no one, but I was welcomed into the fold and now I've got new theatre friends that I look forward to seeing every night.

The script is a mix of fact and fiction, telling the story of the 7th President of the USofA in a manner that weaves the politics of the early- to mid-19th century into our current political and cultural landscape. It shows how hope can turn to despair, how change can be painful, how the voice of the people should sometimes be ignored. Andrew Jackson is an incredibly important figure in American history, but his legacy is a difficult one. There are those who see him as one of our greatest presidents, and there are those who see him as an American Hitler. What BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON attempts to do is show him as a human being, flawed in many ways, but attempting to do what he truly believes is best for the country. There are many parallels between Jackson's politics and current politics (one example: he won the plurality of the popular vote for the presidency in 1824 but was denied the office as a result of the Corrupt Bargain) and at times AJ speaks like a leader of the Tea Party and at others he speaks of HOPE and CHANGE a la Obama. 2012 is so 1828!

I play Rachel, Jackson's older (yet totally hot!) wife, who shares with him a love of bloodsports (yes, you read that correctly). Rachel is swept up by his energy and charisma and leaves her other husband to marry Jackson (though she didn't leave him soon enough, resulting in the ugly distinction of being a bigamist). But alas, while AJ is all the man Rachel will ever need, she will never be enough to satisfy this larger-than-life figure, which leads her to sing one hell of a rocking song, "The Great Compromise", before dying of grief (yes, you read that correctly).

This play is a true ensemble show. Kody Bringman plays Andrew Jackson, and he is freaking fantastic! The rest of us play numerous characters throughout (talk about a show full of quick-changes--you should see me transform from poor dead Rachel to a super-busty cheerleader!) and wow, there are some incredible characters on that stage. The cast is strong, the band kicks ass, and this whole crazy thing is helmed by Christopher Zinovitch, Artistic Director at ArtsWest. He cast this thing flawlessly, and the designers he pulled together have created a truly stunning world. I am honored to be a part of this production, I wish you all could see it, and I hope that Seattle audiences take a break from the current campaign season to get a little perspective on how crazy this whole Democracy thing is.