ongoing - Sat. Nov. 17

What happens when you combine the life and times of a famous president as told by the Tony Award-nominated director of the Broadway version of “The Pee-Wee Herman Show” with an emo-core show and a Norton Award-winning director?

Apparently, the answer is the SpeakEasy Stage Company’s production of Alex Timbers “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” which will charge the stage at The Roberts Studio Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts under the direction of Paul Melone up through-November 17.

While the combination may seem anachronistic and odd, in many ways, Jackson was as well. Born and raised on the Tennessee frontier, Jackson rose through the ranks of the military to become its seventh Commander-in-Chief and a true pioneer in many respects. As a key figure in the War of 1812, the victor of The Battle of New Orleans and the man behind the forced relocation of thousands of Native Americans, Jackson apparently had no fear of ruffling feathers of former neighbors. This maverick attitude might have been his undoing, but Jackson persevered and is today one of our most respected (if not best understood) presidents.

Though he has portrayed everyone from baseball players in “Damn Yankees” to Nazi music fans in “Cabaret,” Gus Curry (who makes his SpeakEasy debut in the role, in photo) says that playing a president comes with its own set of challenges and rewards. “You obviously get to experience what its like to be powerful and have a lot of control,” he says, “which is fun.”

Though Jackson is not as known or as written about as, say, Washington or Lincoln, Curry sees this as a positive. “[It] makes him more of a blank canvas,” he suggests. “And since there are no recordings of him, I don't have to do impressions!”

As “Old Hickory” (a name Jackson as given thanks to his toughness and aggressive personality) is…well…old, Curry also suggests that the reframing of his story as a rock concert helps it appeal to and connect with younger audiences as well. “Emo-rock is young people's music,” observes the Berklee College of Music student, noting how, as it is not so musically demanding, the form “puts the power in the hands of the common musician.”

“Jackson's presidency came during a time when America was still in its ‘teenage years,’” Curry suggests. “The nation was struggling through many of its own ‘growing pains’…with many Americans desperately trying to claim what they felt to be rightfully theirs. Also, Jackson’s presidency was largely devoted to dismantling the aristocracy and getting the power back into the hands of the common man.” For these reasons, he reasons, emo-core is a “the right style for this show.”

As it has an emo soundtrack, the show must also have an angst-ridden love story winding through it. Fortunately, the writers did not have to go far to find one. “[Jackson’s wife] Rachel was a simple, homespun woman and Jackson loved her immensely,” Curry explains. “The way in which their relationship began was shrouded in mystery, often resurfacing in the future in attempts to harm Jackson's image.” As it was unclear whether or not she was still married when she wed Jackson, rumors of possible bigamy swirled throughout Jackson’s presidential campaign. “It was not the first presidential scandal,” Curry observes, “[nor] the last.”

As the show is to be produced in the heat of another heated election season, Curry is looking forward to seeing how politically-minded Boston audiences take to it. “I think its going to be fun to be in Boston during election season, appearing in a show that so brilliantly  comments on politics and politicians,  playing a man that is just trying to find his way through it all,” he says.

While BBAJ intends to give audiences an idea of Jackson’s life, as not everything is known about it in the first place and as the show tries to liven up the story of the old hickory stick, Curry admits that “liberties were taken.” However, he maintains, “The play does, in fact, present quite a bit of historically accurate info, while at the same time having a bit of fun with certain situations.”

Despite the poetic licenses, Curry believes that BBAJ offers a “fair” view of the president. “Jackson was a complicated man,” he observes, “and has a controversial legacy.  But I do believe, and I think the play shows, that Jackson had the people and the future of this nation in mind at all times.  We wouldn't be the same country without him!”

As there is factual wiggle room and danceable music, Curry says that the show is great even for those who are not history buffs or theater fans.  “This is not your typical evening at the theatre,” he smiles.

Tickets: $57-$25 Tues.-Thurs. at 8, Fri-Sat at 7:30. Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3

- Matt Robinson

539 Tremont Street, 617-933-8600 www.SpeakEasyStage.com