1776 Previews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 9/15/22 at 12:00am

Come, ye cool, cool, considerate (wo)men!

Following a spring run at American Repertory Theater, the second Broadway revival of 1776 begins previews tomorrow at the American Airlines Theatre, prior to an October 6 official opening. This revival features a company made up completely of female, nonbinary, and trans-identifying individuals — a first for this title. The musical features a score by Sherman Edwards, book by Peter Stone, choreography by Jeffrey L. Page, and direction by Page and Diane Paulus. Crystal Lucas-Perry leads the cast as John Adams; joining her are Gisela Adisa, Nancy Anderson, Becca Ayers, Tiffani Barbour, Carolee Carmello, Allyson Kaye Daniel, Elizabeth A. Davis, Mehry Eslaminia, Joanna Glushak, Shawna M. Hamic, Eryn LeCroy, Liz Mikel, Patrena Murray, Oneika Phillips, Lulu Picart, Sara Porkalob, Sushma Saha, Brooke Simpson, Salome B. Smith, Sav Souza, and Jill Marie Vallery. 1776 will play a limited engagement through January 8.

“What will it take to get two dozen powerfully passionate, exceedingly complicated, and all-too-human individuals to settle their differences, while they hold the very future of a nation in their hands? This Tony Award-winning Best Musical is tuneful, funny, and constantly surprising, especially in this revolutionary new production from directors Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus. You may never think about our country — who we are and why — the same way again.”

Who’s joining the revolution?

[Age_of_Mendacity]

Posted: 9/15/22 at 12:20pm

Saw a donor's tech rehearsal yesterday and from what I saw, the musical sounds great (though the set is going to leave many wanting more)!

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 9/15/22 at 6:09pm

Seeing it next week and I'm excited--I'll report back 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/16/22 at 11:33pm

I liked it. I didn’t love it but there were elements of it I really enjoyed. The book and score remain top notch and arguably perfect and I can’t think of anyone in the cast that I thought was a weak link. As a whole though, I just don’t “get” the concept behind this. I mean, I get what they’re trying to say (I suppose), I just don’t think it totally works. Once you get past the “these women and people of color are playing men who formed a government that didn’t recognize them”, I don’t know where else you can go from there. These are just my initial thoughts and I know people are going to want to come for me for them but they are what I walked out thinking. I don’t think it’s a terrible concept to tell a story that way but I don’t think as a three hour show, this was the one to do it. 
 

Now again, all that said, the performances were very good, along with the staging. I will actually fault one thing. One of my alltime favorite songs in musical theater is “Momma Look Sharp” and it’s a highlight for me any time I see this done. It works so well because of the simplicity of it and the “rawness” just makes it pack a punch. It absolutely didn’t need an entire stage filled with people and a “Momma” in back miming being sad while the song was sung (very well but LOUD) and almost screamed at the end of it. It doesn’t need all of that to get the point across. It became the low point of the entire evening for me.  
 

Im sure I’ll have more thoughts but I need dinner now. :)

[JBroadway]

Posted: 9/17/22 at 12:55am

Saw the 1st preview tonight 

I guess you could say I fit nicely in the target audience for this production, in the sense that I’m (a) a fan of the material, but also (b) the opposite of a purist. I genuinely love to see artists take massive liberties with an existing text.

I have mixed feelings about the end result, but overall I dug it. Sometimes a bit heavy-handed, to be sure, but even some of those moments worked for me, because the text is already written with such a sense of self-awareness. They just changed who who was aware of what.

When all was said and done, I actually don’t think this production feels like it’s fighting the text. Working in dialogue with it, yes, and occasionally embellishing it where it could’ve spoken for itself. But I think the things that already work well about the text were still present in this production.

Some of the more “frivolous” numbers didn’t quite gel with the flow of the production, but in general I thought most of the musical numbers were excellent, and loved a lot of the stylistic changes they made to the score.

As I said, I do have a number of criticisms. But since this production already seems to have been pretty poorly received, I feel more inclined to focus on the positives in the post. Because overall I definitely enjoyed it, and respect its ambition (Also it’s late, and I don’t feel like doing a play-by-play tonight). 

Regarding Mamma Look Sharp: I do love the original version, but I also thought this re-imagined version was exquisite in its own way, and was actually the highlight of the evening for me. 

For anyone curious, it ran close to 3 hours tonight - got out at like 10:50 or something.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/17/22 at 5:20pm

Is it normally that long?

[B212323]

Posted: 9/17/22 at 6:09pm

I thought it was around 2.5 hours with intermission. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 9/17/22 at 6:55pm

It started late - around 8:09

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 9/17/22 at 7:08pm

The Roundabout website lists the running time as 2:45, including intermission. 

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 9/18/22 at 4:02am

I've never seen it staged but the movie is long, around 3 hours as well. 

[bk]

Posted: 9/18/22 at 4:23am

RippedMan said: "Is it normally that long?"

Yes, if it's directed badly, sure. The original B'way production ran two hours and ten minutes with no intermission. That's what it should run and there should never be an intermission.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 9/26/22 at 1:04pm

The cast will perform from the show on Good Morning America this Thursday. 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 9/26/22 at 2:09pm

This show is also going on a tour soon, so I wonder how many of the current cast members will migrate over to the tour. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/26/22 at 2:12pm

Most of them....they are only in NY for 12 weeks, I believe.  It's not a separate production.

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 9/28/22 at 10:55am

So I am seeing the show on Saturday during the matinee. When I was purchasing my tickets, it said something about Roundabout's "Lecture Series". I am not sure what this means. Will there be a talkback or something after the show?

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 9/28/22 at 10:58am

Dylan Smith4 said: "So I am seeing the show on Saturday during the matinee. When I was purchasing my tickets, it said something about Roundabout's "Lecture Series". I am not sure what this means. Will there be a talkback or something after the show?"

There will be. From the Roundabout website:

"Explore the themes of each production after the curtain goes down. Stay in your seats after the performance to attend a 50-minute discussion with a member of the creative team, distinguished artist, scholar, historian, or critic, hosted by a Roundabout teaching artist."

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 9/28/22 at 11:04am

Thanks! I've never been to a Broadway Talkback before so it will be nice to attend one! Hope Diane Paulus will be there!

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 10/1/22 at 7:23pm

Saw the matinee today! WHAT A SHOW! I know some people have had mixed reactions about this show but I thought it was very well done! Diane Paulus and Jeffrey Page’s vision for this show was almost perfect. The company of actors is nothing but sheer talent! Especially Crystal Lucas Perry as John Adams! That woman can sing! It’s a shame she is leaving later this month though! Hope a lot of people get a chance to see her! Fingers crossed she comes back or goes on the tour. Granted, nothing can come close to being better than ITW, but this comes at a close second place! Also, there was a quick talkback with Paulus and Page. They went further into detail about some of the major changes they put in this show as well as share some of the inspiration behind the set design and many other things. The one thing I found interesting was the addition of a letter from Abigail Adams. They literally put that word for word in the show and I think that gave it a new meaning! Go see this show! Definitely an underrated revival! 

[pethian]

Posted: 10/2/22 at 2:22am

bk said: "The original B'way production ran two hours and ten minutes with no intermission. That's what it should run and there should never be an intermission."

 

I saw the original B'way production and there was an intermission after "MAMA LOOK SHARP."

 

[chewy5000]

Posted: 10/2/22 at 4:07am

My copy of the script states that "the action is continuous, without intermission"

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 10/2/22 at 11:40am

pethian said: "bk said: "The original B'way production ran two hours and ten minutes with no intermission. That's what it should run and there should never be an intermission."



I saw the original B'way production and there was an intermission after "MAMA LOOK SHARP."

"

The original Broadway production opened without an intermission, but about a year or so into the run they added it. If I recall, it had to do with the London production (they opened the London production with an intermission and decided it worked better that way so added it to the Broadway and touring productions).

[In The Jackson Heights]

Posted: 10/2/22 at 12:10pm

Dylan Smith4 said: "Saw the matinee today! WHAT A SHOW! I know some people have had mixed reactions about this show but I thought it was very well done! Diane Paulus and Jeffrey Page’s vision for this show was almost perfect. The company of actors is nothing but sheer talent! Especially Crystal Lucas Perry as John Adams! That woman can sing! It’s a shame she is leaving later this month though! Hope a lot of people get a chance to see her! Fingers crossed she comes back or goes on the tour. Granted, nothing can come close to being better than ITW, but this comes at a close second place! Also, there was a quick talkback with Paulus and Page. They went further into detail about some of the major changes they put in this show as well as share some of the inspiration behind the set design and many other things. The one thing I found interesting was the addition of a letter from Abigail Adams. They literally put that word for word in the show and I think that gave it a new meaning! Go see this show! Definitely an underrated revival!"

I totally agree with Dylan.  I thought it was great!  I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would based on some of the posts here.  

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 10/2/22 at 12:56pm

Going on Tuesday. Not sure what to expect, but looking forward to hearing this score on Broadway. First show I did in high school! Ah, memories.

[Grief]

Posted: 10/2/22 at 1:17pm

DELETED

Updated On: 10/5/22 at 01:17 PM

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 10/2/22 at 6:49pm

BCfitasafiddle said: "Going on Tuesday. Not sure what to expect, but looking forward to hearing this score on Broadway. First show I did in high school! Ah, memories."

You won't be disappointed! The score is absolutely beautiful! Especially the second act! "The Egg" is my favorite number! I won't spoil too much for you, but I would love to hear your thoughts after you see it!