A Bloody Good Addition to Know's Season

My Curtain Call column about Know Theatre of Cincinnati from Wednesday’s edition of CityBeat was incomplete, since Artistic Director Eric Vosmeier was still wrestling for the rights to several shows. The picture is more sharply in focus today with the big announcement that Know will present the regional premiere of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which will wrap up the 2011-12 season between March 31 and May 12. 

Bloody Bloody, a 2010 Tony nominee with off-Broadway roots, is a perfect show for Know with its audacious, raucous blend of outrageous comedy, historic fact and anarchic theatricality and an infectious rock n’ roll soundtrack by Michael Friedman. The infectious Rock musical uses the story of Andrew Jackson, Americas controversial seventh president — “the man who invented the Democratic Party, doubled the size of our nation and signed the Indian Removal Acts that started the Trail of Tears” — to investigate the attraction and terrors of American populism. The show’s book is by Alex Timbers, the mind behind A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant presented by Know in 2008. Know's Vosmeier says, “Bloody Bloody was one of those shows I fell in love with right away. Timber’s writing is sharp and funny, and Freidman’s Emo-Rock-inspired score is a perfect accompaniment.”

There’s more to come, too, as Know’s season announcement has a slot in February for a show that’s not yet finalized. Know, the producer of the annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival, is bringing back two popular acts from last’s June’s event to satisfy the out-there tastes of Fringe enthusiasts:

Oct. 19, 8 p.m. — An Evening with Kevin J. Thornton will feature material from several of the singer and monologist’s past performances. He’s a throwback to the golden age of entertainers on the vaudeville circuit, singing poignant songs and telling hilarious jokes. But Thornton is anything but old-fashioned. His stories comment on sexuality (straight and gay), religion and American life in the 21s5 century.

Jan. 13-14, 8 p.m. — Joe Hutcheson returns to present again this 2011 “Critics’ Pick of the Fringe,” Miss Magnolia Beaumont Goes to Provincetown. Since I was one of those doing the picking, I’m pleased to share this news. Southern debutante Miss Magnolia has choked to death on the meat of a pork rib in the 19th century, only to find herself mysteriously inhabiting the body of a thirty-something, gay New Yorker in the present. She learns that “Master Joseph” is on his way to Provincetown, Mass., on Cape Cod for a birthday vacation. Before she can adjust to his lifestyle, an offensive painting suddenly jolts her into his awareness. After a few disagreements, they spend the rest of their trip discussing the deeper meanings of life and explore why they might have been brought together. More than a monologue, Hutcheson’s piece, directed by Cheryl King, is a modern comic fantasy celebrating the beauty and magic of P-town.

Tickets available for Thornton’s and Hutcheson’s performances as well as more details about the 2011-12 season can be found here. Vosmeier hopes to present several more Fringe acts in the months ahead.