By Adam Hetrick
22 Oct 2009

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson star Benjamin Walker
photo by Joan Marcus

The Public Theater will stage a full production of the Alex Timbers-Michael Friedman emo rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson in March 2010.

The show about the seventh U.S. President will begin previews March 23, 2010 and will run through April 25, 2010 as an addition to the previously announced Public Theater season. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson: The Concert Version was seen as part of the Public LAB developmental series in May of 2009.

Timbers, who also serves as director, authored the book for the satirical musical that has a score by the Civilians' Michael Friedman.

"Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman are ferociously talented, and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is a wildly enjoyable and shockingly deep rock and roll tour of American political populism," said Public Theater artistic director Oskar Eustis in a statement. "We've had a wonderful time working on it over the last two years and it's going to be a great ride from here on out."

Original Public LAB cast members including Ben Walker (Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Inherit the Wind) and Colleen Werthmann will return as Jackson and the Storyteller, respectively.

Also reprising their performances will be Jeff Hiller as John Quincy Adams, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe as Martin Van Buren, Ben Steinfeld as James Monroe, Maria Elena Ramirez as Rachel, Kate Cullen Roberts as Elizabeth, Greg Hildreth as Red Eagle, Darren Goldstein as Calhoun and James Barry as Male Soloist.

Timbers directed the 2009 Public LAB production and the 2008 Los Angeles world premiere of Bloody Bloody at the Center Theatre Group. The 2010 Public production is a co-presentation with the Center Theatre Group and Alex Timbers' theatre company Les Freres Corbusier.

The Public describes the musical this way: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson "is a fast-paced entertainment that takes a sharp, irreverent look at America's seventh president, Andrew Jackson. This satirical epic reveals questions about the country we live in and the leaders we choose."

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