Keeping up with the Jacksons
Monday, June 1st, 2009Mike Sablone is CTG’s Literary Associate, starting left fielder and third-string shortstop for Dark Monday, the CTG softball team.
So you know how I go on and on and on and on and on and on about how the new plays and musicals we work on are in development, and just because we’ve had the world premiere doesn’t mean that our work is done?
(If the answer is no, punch yourself in the face, and then go along with me. Harsh? Yes! Fair? I think so!)
Two weekends ago I had the distinct pleasure of seeing the second production of a show that is near and dear to my heart.
BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON.
When we closed the show here we were thrilled with how the production looked and very happy with where the script was. Happy because we knew which parts were working the way we wanted them to, and which parts weren’t working as well as we wanted them to. By the time the show had closed, Alex Timbers (director, book writer), Michael Friedman (music and lyrics) and I had had numerous conversations about the next draft, cut chunks of the show, rearranged where musical numbers went, and generally were chomping at the bit to get it up again.
Saturday, May 16th, 2009, I saw the show again at The Public in New York.
And I was blown away. The script is tighter, the jokes funnier, the exposition clearer. It was the show I always knew was there.
I am so incredibly proud of the work that Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman have done on this show. Two of the funniest, smartest, and most talented artists I’ve ever encountered continue to amaze me with this piece.
I’d be lying if I said to you that five minutes after the show ended, still grinning and elated from seeing the show, Alex and I didn’t talk about two or three moments that we still wanted to tweak.
Which is what makes this piece so thrilling. Even when it’s working the way we want it to, there are still small tweaks that we feel can make the show even better.
This show is everything I want theater to be. It’s young, it’s smart, it’s effing hilarious, it uses actual contemporary music to help elevate the story when it needs it, and it’s got a message, but most of all? It’s fun. Theater shouldn’t have to be work. Theater doesn’t have to be boring, bland vegetables all the time. Theater shouldn’t be something young people and kids should dread.
It can be so much more.
It can be BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON.
