1776 Previews

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?

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

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.

I thought it was around 2.5 hours with intermission. 

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

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.

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. 

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?

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

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."

 

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).

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.

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!