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New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," has secured the rights for the regional premieres of the outrageous Wild West, emo rock musical BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON and the brilliant Pulitzer Prize-winning rock opera NEXT TO NORMAL, both for next season. Exact dates and the rest of the season will be announced in the spring.
The New York Times said, "There is no show in town that more astutely reflects the state of this nation than Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson." New Line Theatre's 22nd season will open in fall 2012 with BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, an audacious, hard-rocking mix of historical fact and fiction, redefining America's controversial seventh president, the man who invented the Democratic Party, drove the Indians west, and ultimately doubled the size of our nation, with a raucous blend of outrageous comedy, anarchic theatricality and an infectious emo rock score. Written by Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman, the show overflows with insightful, comic parallels to our dysfunctional American politics today, right from the opening number, "Populism, Yea Yea!" The show got rave reviews from the press. The New York Times called it "the most entertaining and most perceptive political theater of the season." Time Out New York said, "This fist-pumping historical travesty has something for every disenfranchised groupie." The Associated Press called it "an intriguing, often outrageous look at American history, filtered through the satiric eye of Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman's pulsating rock score."
The season continues in spring 2013 with the powerful, thrilling rock opera NEXT TO NORMAL, winner of the Tony Award for best score and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. The New York Times said about it, "No show on Broadway right now makes as direct a grab for the heart -- or wrings it as thoroughly -- as Next to Normal does. This brave, breathtaking musical focuses squarely on the pain that cripples the members of a suburban family, and never for a minute does it let you escape the anguish at the core of their lives." With a searing, ground-breaking rock score by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt (High Fidelity), this is an emotional powerhouse of a musical about a family trying to take care of themselves and each other in the midst of one woman's fierce battle with bipolar disorder. It's one of the most emotional, most intense musicals in years.
New Line Theatre is a professional company dedicated to involving the people of the St. Louis region in the exploration and creation of daring, provocative, socially and politically relevant works of musical theatre. New Line was created back in 1991 at the vanguard of a new wave of nonprofit musical theatre just starting to take hold across the country. New Line has given birth to several world premiere musicals over the years and has brought back to life several shows that did not do well in their original New York productions. Altogether, New Line has produced 58 musicals and 5 concerts of theatre songs since 1991. New Line Theatre was recently given its own entry in the latest edition of the Cambridge Guide to American Theatre. New Line receives funding from the Regional Arts Commission, the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation, and the Missouri Arts Council. For more about New Line, go to www.newlinetheatre.com/contact.html
New Line's next show this season, the American regional premiere of CRY-BABY, runs March 1-24, 2012, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, at 8:00 p.m., at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend. Tickets are on sale through Metrotix.com and all Metrotix outlets, including the Fox Theatre Box Office and the Edison Theatre at Washington University, or by calling 314-534-1111. For other information, visit New Line Theatre's full-service website at www.newlinetheatre.com. All programs are subject to change.
