BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON: The View of the Past from Future Eyes, a conversation with the star and director of Spotlight Youth Theatre's production

the cast of Spotlight Youth Theatre's Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
photo by Ryan Cyphert

by Julia Bashaw

The man on the twenty dollar bill is known to most people as simply a president from a long time ago named Andrew Jackson. However, he was one of the most influential and controversial men in our history. Spotlight Youth Theatre in Glendale is performing the musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which has a book by Alex Timbers and a musical score by Michael Friedman. The lead, Andrew Jackson, is being played by 16-year-old sophomore Brody Wurr and the show is directed by Kenny Grossman.

The show has a unique take on this historical figure and the era, according to Grossman, “it’s a historic political satire set to emo-rock music.”

Brody even went deeper, stating it is “history done punk rock. It’s a historical story but actually I kind of feel like the punk rock may also be historical because these guys were the rock stars of their time. Before there was Greenday there was Andrew Jackson.”

Spotlight Youth Theatre has a particular way that they gather the shows that they will be performing for their season. “Every year we do an event, it’s called ‘Pick a Season,” Grossman stated. “We have a potluck dinner and we have a listing of 15 or 20 shows that we are thinking about doing for the following season. Then people can come and vote.” The event is open to anyone and everyone, making it a unique experience for the community. “So they help us pick the season. And this show was one of the winners,” Grossman stated proudly.

Preparing for this role, Wurr did some research and figured out how to portray a man from almost 200 years ago. He explained how this show’s version of Andrew Jackson has challenged him in his acting repertoire. The most difficult being, “his contrast in characteristics. He is tender at times but he is very angry throughout most of the show. Because when I am angry throughout the whole show, and there is one random little tender scene, it throws me off.”

But mostly Wurr has had to look at Andrew Jackson with unjudged eyes. For someone who lives in 2019, it can be difficult understanding why Andrew Jackson did the things he did back in the 1800s. Brody explained, “I just have to see how he would view what he is doing, not how I would view what he is doing. He is definitely a person who believes the ends justify the means. He is willing to do what it takes to get to where he wants to be as a country.”

For those who don’t know Andrew Jackson was responsible for the Indian Removal Act and the resulting death of thousands of Native Americans. It is a heavy topic but the show does it justice, not making light of the situation but rather showing the audience how the world was back then. “I’m hoping that they take away that it was a different time and people thought differently,” stated Brody. “He was a kid whose family died at a young age and then he moved into a world where he was told that these people were evil. So the world around him shaped him into the person he was. Yeah, he was a bad guy but he has some justifying characteristics.”

“Something that people do nowadays, which is really difficult, is hold him [Andrew Jackson] to morality and a standard from today’s point of view,” explained Grossman. “Back then in the early 1800s, it was a different point of view, different morality. I'm not taking his side for a lot of things he did, he was very bad. But people question how he could have been followed back then but that's because they didn’t look at him the same way that we look at him now. He had good things too, he helped start the Democratic Party, and in the show he talks about equality raising awareness into politics. I hope people don't come here condemning us for doing a show like this because that's not what it's about. It’s just a lot of fun.”

“The Indians are never made fun of, it's never a goof in this show,” continued Kenny. “The show takes what happened to them very seriously but they do it in a light-hearted way that it’s not so in your face. And this show definitely stands on its own. I think that it's an extremely entertaining fun show to come see. People are not going to walk out of here saying ‘oh that reminded me a lot of Hamilton’. It's clever and funny in a different way,” stated Kenny.

The cast and crew are very excited for the show to open on January 11th. There are 17 actors and actresses with age ranges from 15-19 with one 10-year-old. Kenny described that this musical is “a giant ensemble piece. Makes it really fun for the actors to be in an ensemble type of piece because it is a different approach to all the different characters they have to play. And there is a different type of trust that they have to have in each other. It’s just a really fun process for everybody. No matter what happens, when you see the show on stage those actors are having a blast.”

Kenny’s hope for the audience is that they are, “satisfied with the performance and they don't walk away saying ‘oh that was a youth theatre show’. I hope they walk away saying ‘yeah that was a real show’. Because it's not just youth theater, it's real theater.”

CLICK HERE for more information on this production, which runs January 11th to January 27th