Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson: Production Diary

At AussieTheatre we are beyond excited for Squabbalogic’s next production, the punk-rock portrait of America’s seventh president, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Director Craig Stewart has shared with us a behind the scenes glimpse of how the collaborative company is tackling the cult hit in this Production Diary.

The Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson cast in rehearsals.
The Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson cast in rehearsals.

 

At SQUABBALOGIC we have been rehearsing the Australian Premiere of BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON for the last two weeks and the show is shaping up to be a cracker! We have managed to mostly stage the show, and now we are in the process of polishing and preparing for our August 14th opening date.

Tonight’s rehearsal was dedicated to the music of BBAJ. While we had a couple of music calls early in the piece tonight was a great opportunity to consolidate the music, now that the cast are more comfortable with the show and their characters.

Mark Chamberlain, our musical director, has done a stellar job of arranging the voices of our cast to create an impressive sound. One of the tricky, but most brilliant things about BBAJ is its music (2010 Drama Desk Outstanding Music nomination). It’s most certainly not your traditional musical theatre score, it is a score full of emo/punk rock flavours where the songs comment on character and feeling rather than necessarily advancing the “plot”.

To give you an understanding of what we are dealing with think: Sondheim’s Assassins if it was written by Green Day. It’s a lot of fun, and hugely entertaining.

As SQUABBALOGIC is a collaborative company, I spent most of tonight’s rehearsal helping out with costumes. Discussing with the cast what is available and what we need to source. We love working this way at SQUABBALOGIC, it’s a part of our mission to be a co-operative and inclusive company where everyone works together in all areas of the production to achieve the best possible theatre.

 

Tickets on sale now! Use the code word “PUNK” to get an earlybird special of a 28.87% discount on full priced tickets (special available until 14th August). Head to www.squabbalogic.com for all the details.

One thought on “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson: Production Diary

  • We were lucky enough to see the first preview of “Bloody,Bloody Andrew Jackson last night at the Factory. A great piece of theatre. We hung around a while to see director Craig Stewart and cast member Louise Kelly (we know them both) but I guess they were busy getting “notes” in preparation for opening night-tonight.
    Craig has done a fantastic job. The staging is very inventive and the entire cast are committed and energetic. Congratulations to all for a great show. Brian & Dianne McGann

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