Joan Marcus
The musical 1776 first premiered in 1969 with music and lyrics written by Sherman Edwards. The show is about those critical few months in 1776 leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This latest tour features a female, trans, and non-binary cast, intentionally and notably progressive minded and forward thinking in its perspective — there are several specific set pieces intentionally trying to make the audience a little uncomfortable in the right way.
The cast is led by John Adams as played by Gisela Adisa, who is a powerhouse performer with a talent for comedy and an easy capability to command the stage. John is desperately trying to get the fellow members of Congress to agree to vote for independence, but is constantly stymied and pushed back on with the annoyance and minutiae of politics.
John’s main ally is Benjamin Franklin (Liz Mikel, hilariously badass and capably portraying the notorious diplomat), but there are other pro-independence delegates that each have amusing or standout moments (some more so than others). John is at the same time buoyed and dismayed by his wife Abigail Adams — Brooke Simpson in this run, who also plays Jonathan Witherspoon, and has an engaging and warm presence as Abigail with a great voice and impeccable harmonies.
But John’s principal rival is Pennsylvania’s John Dickinson, royal sympathizer, played here with a sort of high-minded, charismatic arrogance by Joanna Glushak. The back and forth chemistry between her and Gisela Adisa is one of the highlights of the production, feeling like an explosion just waiting to detonate (Glushak is excellent in this rendition of ‘Cool, Cool, Considerate Men’).
Eventually John must enlist help to actually write the Declaration of Independence, but is only able to convince Thomas Jefferson, played by Nancy Anderson, who is given the unenviable role that requires little talking or singing but several complicated violin pieces to accompany songs. We also get one of the real standouts of the production with ‘He Plays the Violin’ from his wife Martha — played by Connor Lyon, who also plays Dr. Lyman Hall of Georgia, and who blows the roof off the building with her impressive pipes.
Joan Marcus
Although the musical is mostly comedic in nature, and even elicited a few audible chuckles from me, and I try to keep it down when watching live theater, but there were also a few intentionally emotional moments with ‘Momma Look Sharp’ (from the Courier devastating the audience as played by Candice Marie Woods) and the powerful punch of ‘Is Anybody There?’.
The rest of the cast is also very good, in both smaller and larger parts, especially some of those with barely any lines or particularly antagonistic characters — I always appreciate when some of the smaller roles still get 100% commitment from the actors.
It was the first time I had seen the show (although I was familiar with the 1776 movie adaptation and had seen one or two songs from it in clips) and there were a few songs that I had a little difficulty hearing the specific lyrics, especially when the ensemble was singing at the same time, but in general it was a pretty entertaining, delightful show that didn’t seem particularly strange with this particular non-male cast.
I can’t really think of any show with so many diverse voices harmonized together this well either, and it’s definitely a great show if you like musicals, and especially, I assume if you’re a fan of this particular musical.
1776: The Musical runs about 2 hours and 45 minutes with one intermission. Recommended for ages 10 and up.
1776: The Musical runs through July 16 at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center. Other cities on the schedule include Houston, Kansas City and Seattle. Visit the official website for more information. Use our Ticketmaster link to purchase tickets.
Making a Musical: 1776 Co-director Diane Paulus
American Repertory Theater
Check our Ticketmaster link for ticket availability.
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