Chimerical

Michael Friedman, Composer of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Dies at 41  (Playbill) [x x x x x]:

Michael Friedman, an Obie-winning composer-lyricist who held numerous leadership positions around New York theatre companies, has died at the age of 41. News of his passing was announced by Off-Broadway’s Public Theater, where Friedman served as the director of Public Forum and artist in residence.

Friedman’s death on September 9 followed complications with HIV/AIDS.

As a composer, Friedman is most known for his work Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which opened on Broadway in 2010 following workshops at Williamstown Theatre Festival and New 42nd Street Studios, plus runs in Culver City, California, and New York’s Public Theater. The musical, depicting the populist president as an emo band frontman, became a talking point in the theatre community once more in 2016 due to its thematic ties to the presidential election.

“Andrew Jackson rewrote the history of America as he was going,” Friedman told Playbill in a 2010 interview. “That’s one of the weird things about taking control of a country; you get to rewrite the narrative entirely.”

Friedman had been working on a piece that musicalized the thoughts of primary voters from across the United States during election season. Each new song would premiere on The New Yorker’s Radio Hour; the magazine had also partially funded the project. “I definitely believe in the politics of music and theatre and popular art,” Freidman told Playbill in 2016. “I certainly think they are a conduit. Art is what survives from protest movements.”

[…]

“Michael Friedman was one of the most brilliant, multi-talented theater artists of our time,” said Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public, in a statement. “He was also a miracle of a human being: loving, kind, generous, hilarious, thrilling. His loss leaves a hole in the theater world that cannot be filled, and a hole in the hearts of those who loved him that will last forever.” […]

After Gina Femia (@justcallmegeekyg) put together a fantastic list of 100 plays by women in 17 minutes (!), I decided to take on the challenge and make a list of 100 more.

I’m embarrassed to say it took me a bit longer than 17 minutes, but I’m going to chalk at least half of that up where I had to google the correct title or playwright’s name. Whoops.

#GAME4HAM

Ahh, here is a project that snowballed out of control. I only wanted to draw Hamilton on the mario super star (he’s non-stop, geddit? geddit?), but then decided to turn the whole show into a SNES video game cause I’m crazy like that. There’s four parts to this and I’ll post one a day (I’m still tweaking the ends). 

Part 1 of 4: Please click on the pics for descriptions/mission for each game.

edit: if the captions are not working (thanks tumblr), here they are:

Start Page

Eye of the Hurricane: Help Hamilton escape the hurricane but make sure he collects his books along the way!

Cut Scene: New York bound

BATTLE! Farmer Refuted: Oh my god, tear that dude apart. Help Hamilton call for a revolution in this screaming match against Samuel Seabury!

Cut Scene: Rise up!

Here Comes the General: Thirty-two thousand troops are in New York harbour! Fight your way across as George Washington. Watch out for the incoming BOOM!!!

Yo Let’s Steal their Cannons: Race against time with Hamilton and Hercules Mulligan (interchangeable leads) and steal all the British cannons before dawn!

Winter Ball of 1780, Level 1: Grind to the rhythm as Eliza Schuyler. Follow the steps correctly to help her dance her way across the hall to meet the handsome Mr. Hamilton!

Rewind!!! Winter Ball of 1780, Level 2: Uh-oh! Do you remember that night? Retrace all your steps and dance again as Angelica Schuyler.

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|| Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || (links will be updated with each post)

Hamilton Hijinks @ the National Portrait Gallery