There are tragedies like the Trail of Tears in which the entire Cherokee Nation was forced from their home territory to the barren wasteland of Oklahoma, and then there are tragedies like the end of the Broadway run of the musical about the man who gave the order for Cherokee displacement. While the former tragedy is more heart-wrenching, or at least it should be, there is little that can be done about it. Maybe, if you are extraordinarily wealthy, you can set up a scholarship fund for or provide general monetary assistance to people of Cherokee descent, but hardly anyone has that kind of money and it still wouldn't make up for almost two centuries of hardship.
The latter tragedy, the imminent closing of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, has far less historical significance but there is much more that can be done about it. What can you do, you ask? Well now, if you are one of the lucky few that has not been trampled by the recent recession, a recession that was arguably caused or at least exacerbated by the actions of a national bank system that President Jackson violently opposed, then you can buy tickets to see Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Ideally, there will be links to buy tickets for that show right now as you read it. However, since many of us do not live in an ideal world and cannot even afford half-price tickets for Broadway shows, we can still try to help out by spreading the word about this sadly short-lived piece of theatrical art. That's what I'm doing right now.
Having not seen the show, I can't give an unbiased review of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, but from what I read about it in a playbill for Wicked last week it looks really good. It's not a biopic of the often controversial leader, but a re-imagining of what someone with Andrew Jackson's attitude might be like as a modern teenager. The show depicts him as a rebellious rock star, which makes sense because Generals and speech-giving statesmen were admired like rock stars in the 18th Century, and Andrew Jackson was both. It's also supposed to be a lot of fun, and fun is good. I like fun. Maybe you like fun too.
Andrew Jackson does not care if you have fun or not, and probably would not care even if he was alive. But it doesn't matter what he thinks - it matters what you think of the show loosely based on his personality. And you can't really form a fully valid opinion about it unless you see it. Otherwise, what you say has no more bearing than what I say about it.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Ricky-Ticket-Tavi
Once upon a time, there was an insidious snake called Liar.
Pretty arrogant snake as well. Drawing attention to his dishonest nature in his name while still going about spreading falsehoods.
The most vile falsehood of all that Liar loved to tell was that it was fine to sneak into entertainment venues without paying for admission.
Liar would say that the entertainers got paid plenty and don't need your money. He would even say that the athletes and movie stars don't deserve your money because they don't work hard enough for it.
Liar, in spite of his name, was believed. He was believed by many, who would curse the superstar celebrities and accuse them of sloth and outright thievery. Even when these stars were not named Kardashian or Hilton. And the entertainers suffered slightly, but more importantly a terrible example was set. Also, employees of the venues hosting concerts and other events had to suffer because of Liar's prevarication.
For a while, there seemed to be no hope for the return to integrity in the event planning world. And then a mongoose named Ricky Ticket Tavi came along and challenged Liar to a fight.
Liar laughed and told Ricky that it would be a fair fight with Liar the likely loser.
That was the first and last time that Liar made a true statement, although he had no intention of doing so. They went at each other tooth and nail, or tooth and neck in Liar's case, and Ricky eventually subdued and consumed the villainous serpent.
With the snake being no more. People are no longer frequently fed the lies about sneaking into venues being morally sound and they now buy tickets whenever doing so is appropriate.
Right?
Ricky sustained some pretty nasty wounds in the fight, and hopefully those injuries were not in vain.
Hopefully.
Pretty arrogant snake as well. Drawing attention to his dishonest nature in his name while still going about spreading falsehoods.
The most vile falsehood of all that Liar loved to tell was that it was fine to sneak into entertainment venues without paying for admission.
Liar would say that the entertainers got paid plenty and don't need your money. He would even say that the athletes and movie stars don't deserve your money because they don't work hard enough for it.
Liar, in spite of his name, was believed. He was believed by many, who would curse the superstar celebrities and accuse them of sloth and outright thievery. Even when these stars were not named Kardashian or Hilton. And the entertainers suffered slightly, but more importantly a terrible example was set. Also, employees of the venues hosting concerts and other events had to suffer because of Liar's prevarication.
For a while, there seemed to be no hope for the return to integrity in the event planning world. And then a mongoose named Ricky Ticket Tavi came along and challenged Liar to a fight.
Liar laughed and told Ricky that it would be a fair fight with Liar the likely loser.
That was the first and last time that Liar made a true statement, although he had no intention of doing so. They went at each other tooth and nail, or tooth and neck in Liar's case, and Ricky eventually subdued and consumed the villainous serpent.
With the snake being no more. People are no longer frequently fed the lies about sneaking into venues being morally sound and they now buy tickets whenever doing so is appropriate.
Right?
Ricky sustained some pretty nasty wounds in the fight, and hopefully those injuries were not in vain.
Hopefully.
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