Jackson & Memphis

I saw two musicals on Broadway last weekend

Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson is a non-traditional musical about the seventh President of the United States. Jackson—from Tenneessee— was the first President who was not from either the Virginia or Massachusetts aristocracy. He attained the Presidency on a tide of populism, and resentment against the eastern elite. Once he gained the Presidency he instituted a brutal policy of Indian removal to force all tribes west of the Mississippi, despite the fact that some of the tribes had agreements with the U.S. government guaranteeing them their land.

The show, despite it's rather bleak subject matter, is very funny. In fact, it almost turns the story into a farce. The music is mostly rock, but I don't think the kind of music you would listen to outside the context of the show. It was very intelligently written, and dealt with a lot of the same issues that come up in U.S. politics today. The performances in the show were very good, especially Benjamin Walker, who plays Andrew Jackson.



Memphis is a more traditional Broadway show, with big songs and dance numbers. The music is not traditional show tunes, but blues. gospel and rock and roll. The story is set in Memphis in the 1950's and deals with the birth of Rock and Roll, and relations between the races. The talent in the cast is very deep, including great performances by the leads, Montego Glover and Chad Kimball. The music for the show was writen by David Bryan, the keyboard player for the band Bon Jovi.

Here is a performance from the Tony Awards, where it won best musical.