Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Composer-lyricist Michael Friedman and writer-director Alex Timbers's wickedly clever mix of emo rock, sketch comedy and pomo snark transfers to Broadway brilliantly. Both silly and darkly disturbing, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson uses Andrew Jackson’s divisive and violent presidency (1829–1837) to underscore how irrational and unstable American populist movements can be. Benjamin Walker is rock-star hot in the title role and Friedman's kicky, brainy score wins our vote for best of the season.—David Cote