The most brilliant moment of 1776...- Page 2

[castlestreet]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 8:49am

A theater group that I was involved with was asked to reproduce their production of this show on 4th of July Weekend in 2002. Patriotism was at an all time high in the months after September 11th, and we were performing in a brand new outdoor shell. The town was coinciding their fireworks to cap off the performance on the 4th. That night we had about 5,000+ come out to see the show- and their were people as far as the eye could see. It had just started to get dark our when it was time for me to sing "Is Anybody There" and I will never EVER forget the rush of seeing all those people, singing that song in its context and what it means to the show and the character- one of the biggest thrills of my performing life!

I would also say that watching Rutledge sing Molasses To Rum every night was thrilling- the tension in the air was so thick and by the time he would look at me and say "Mr. Adams I give you a toast!"- it was just so awesome!

Here is to hoping that if they ever do a Blu-Ray release, it will indeed be the Laserdisc version of the movie that has EVERYTHING in it!

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 9:36am

Great story, castlestreet, and I agree "Is Anybody There?" is an incredible moment in the show.

I have high hopes about a Blu-ray release in the not-too-distant future. I noticed on TCM last night, the film was shown in HD with (what appeared to my eyes) to be a restoration of sorts. The colors were better balanced and richer. It was still the "director's cut," but hopefully they will offer both versions (with "branching," the way they did with Close Encounters), restoring the last missing bits! They could even offer the original theatrical cut (via branching) to show viewers what was missing and how the film played when it was first released.

Aside from the visual improvement, I have to say the audio for the DVD is lacking. It sounds fairly muffled, even in the "new" 5.1 mix. The laser disc audio was far superior, which isn't usually the case. If nothing else, I'm hoping a BD release will result in a better, crisper, and cleaner soundtrack.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 11:04am

It is my favorite show of all time. It never fails to move me more deeply than any other musical I've ever encountered. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to audition for Adams (was too young for it then, still a titch young now), and just getting to do the audition was an honor.

Favorite moment? Abigail's final 'Saltpetre, John!'

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 11:07am

Etiquette/predicate/Connecticut is one of my favorite rhymes.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 11:41am

This is all from memory which is not totally sharp here:

To me the high point and the climax of the piece is very quiet. It is the line spoken by the man from Georgia (?) immediately following "Is Anybody There?"

"...Does anybody care?
Does anybody see what I see?"

Silence.

Then we hear from a dim corner of the otherwise empty set, "I do John. I do.", and he changes his vote to 'For'. That is the climax of the whole damn night. It gives us the cascading inevitability of the success that we know is coming, but we just didn't know how this log jam would be broken.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 11:54am

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that this show belongs in the conversation about the greatest American musicals, right alongside the likes of West Side Story, Gypsy, and Sweeney Todd.

Posted: 7/5/12 at 11:56am

Some reviewer wrote the genius of 1776 is that it manages to build such tension over the outcome of a question we all know the answer to.

[Amalia Balash]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 12:29pm

I listened to the OBCR yesterday and Is Anybody There? still gets me every time. I just bought the McCullough John Adams biography for my Kindle. I hope that the favorable impression of John Adams 1776 gave me survives reading about Adams's Presidency!

[PattiLover]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 12:36pm

The book will, Amalia. McCullough's book the best historic non-fiction books I've read in my life. You will get an even greater appreciation of John and Abigail from the book. They were good, decent people. Adams' story is incredible. I hope you get a deep appreciation for him as you read, he's my hero.

Have you seen the HBO mini series with Paul Giamatti?

[dreaming]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 12:46pm

I love John Adams-he was the most human and accessible of the Founding Fathers, I think. McCullough's book is a fabulous portrait of a man who just tried as hard as he could to be a decent person.

And I'm a romantic, so McCullough's discussion of the relationship between John and Abigail was a favorite part of mine. They had a very real partnership-in an age when people really didn't typically marry for love, John and Abigail did-and she was his equal (even more unusual-and she was very, very intelligent).

[PattiLover]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 2:27pm

"McCullough's discussion of the relationship between John and Abigail was a favorite part of mine. They had a very real partnership-in an age when people really didn't typically marry for love, John and Abigail did-and she was his equal (even more unusual-and she was very, very intelligent)."

Oh, mine too. It's a true love story - and yes, they loved each other as equals. I find their story heartbreaking. They spent years apart from each other, from miles away to separate continents, but their love was unwavering. It's hard to find a flaw in Adams, besides being "obnoxious and disliked." He didn't own slaves, as Washington and Jefferson did, he was not a womanizer like Franklin, and he was not a religious zealot. He and Abigail also despised slavery. She believed in education for women. She never felt sorry for herself as she lived in pitiful conditions as the first tenants of an unfinished White House. She was her husband's closest adviser (though not always right in her advice) And let's face it, she would made a better president than her husband. She was the 1st First Lady.

It makes me happy that 1776 inspires people to talk about John Adams. Anyone who says musicals are irrelevant and frivolous should read this thread.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 3:31pm

"Some reviewer wrote the genius of 1776 is that it manages to build such tension over the outcome of a question we all know the answer to."

Having just seen the movie for the first time yesterday, I completely agree that I was somehow in suspense as to how it would all work out. What a perfectly written book. I loved every minute of the movie and hope to see a live production as soon as possible!

[dreaming]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 3:54pm

PattiLover-turn on your PMs. (A little book talk.)

[Lenexajones]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 3:54pm

I saw my all time favorite version of 1776 last summer when it was put on my an all woman cast. Simply stunning.

[wonkit]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 5:04pm

I also have to cast my vote (!) for Virginia Vestoff. So splendid and warm and unforced. My single favorite moment in the movie is the very end of her song with John, as they sing "Yours, yours, yours, yours, yours" with the distance increasing between them. It is such a poignant comparison with their walking side by side earlier in the song.

[PattiLover]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 5:12pm

PMs are on.

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 5:19pm

Thanks so much best12bars! That would explain why I didn't notice anything new when I watched last night and why "Cool, Considerate Men" looked familiar, lol. I have the DVD, but couldn't remember if that scene was in it or not. The laserdisc is what we watched when I was in fifth grade. It's been one of my favorite musicals since then.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 5:20pm

wonkit---John Adams actually wrote letters to Abigail signed "Yours, yours, yours, yours ..."

A whole page of them on one letter.

They may have dramatized certain things in the musical, but they also put in little factual gems like that. I love it.

[wonkit]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 5:26pm

best12bars - Thank you for that historical side bar! That totally makes my day -

[sueb1863]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 7:54pm

Love '1776'!

I remember reading about how some theater reviewer was watching one of the early productions of the show, maybe it was the first Broadway run. There were two theatergoers sitting in front of him. Things got very tense as events rolled on, and as the play reached its climax and the delegates were about to vote on passing the Declaration, he saw one of the theatergoers lean over to his companion and anxiously whisper, "Do you think they'll sign it?"

Updated On: 7/5/12 at 07:54 PM

[sueb1863]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 8:36pm

Hmmm, you're right, there don't seem to be any clips of the film version of MtR on YoutTube! It used to be there...









Updated On: 7/5/12 at 08:36 PM

[figaroindy]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 9:29pm

Funny, Best - I auditioned for the show the first time and wanted (and got) Adams. I loved playing the role. Soon after, a summer theater was doing selections for a 4th of July concert in the park. I was hired to do one of the smaller roles (which I wanted to do so I could sing some of the fun harmony stuff in But, Mr. Adams, etc.)...but the guy they were bringing in from NYC to play Adams backed out, and they asked if I'd do it, so I was Adams again. Later, another theater did the show, and I auditioned for Rutledge (for the same reason you mention, to get to do the scene/song). No other Adams options presented themselves to the director, so I ended up playing the role for the 3rd time. I LOVE playing John Adams, but I'm reasonably sure that, now at 41, I've missed my chance to sing "Molasses to Rum" - and I am saddened by that!

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 9:52pm

Well, you played Adams three times, and it's one hell of a role, not to mention the lead! That's very impressive.

After I was cast as Rutledge I realized what a challenge it was ... not just to "go there" physically and emotionally, but it's a bitch to pull off because of the way the show is constructed. You basically have a smaller role with a line here, a short speech there. You sing a bit of Cool, Considerate Men with Dickinson ... and then comes THAT MOMENT.

No matter how much you warm up in advance before the show, your "five and a half minute one-man play" doesn't happen for two hours. And once you start, you don't stop until you walk off the stage. A scene, a monologue, and a song that shakes the rafters.

I had classical training as a singer (my teacher was from the New York City Opera), and I knew what I was doing, but it didn't help as much as I'd hoped. If you play that part for any length of time, it will fry your voice.

I asked Mary Bracken Phillips about it when she came to see our show. She had been Betty Buckley's replacement as Martha on Broadway. She told me they went through Rutledges very quickly during the run, for that reason. It was hard to stay so quiet for most of the show and then "scream" for over five minutes.

And remember the show in NY was performed without an intermission, so you had to warm up before it started ... then two hours later, you let 'er rip.

I managed to make it through our short run without losing my voice, but it was tough. Once you get to the slave auction, there's no turning back. I do remember how fun it was to play such a villainous scene, hopping up onto the chair with my foot on the table as the lights seeping through the shuttered windows turned blood red behind me. And once the orchestra hits that "vamp" and the African drums start to come in, it's very empowering (in a sick, twisted way). I would lose myself in it every night.

As an actor, going to that "dark place" inside was a lot of fun ... as long as you don't stay there!

Updated On: 7/5/12 at 09:52 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 10:21pm

One other 1776 story ...

I moved to New York one year after I played Rutledge, and my first pay-the-bills job in the city was as a waiter and busboy at Palsson's Supper Club (where they did Forbidden Broadway). I loved working there, and one of the hosts who would seat people for the show was Scott Jarvis (another actor with a pay-the-bills job).

Scott had created the role of the Courier in the original Broadway production of 1776. I had many opportunities to talk with him about it. He told me he knew it was going to be an incredibly powerful experience from the first rehearsal, but that he really wasn't prepared for the impact that "Mama, Look Sharp" would have on the audience.

That song devastated people in 1969. It was a very clear and intentional anti-war song at the height of the Vietnam War. And while Hair opened on Broadway that same season and swept the nation with its music, 1776 took home the Tony for Best Musical (and was a huge hit itself, running over 1,200 performances).

I saw the show as a child in 1971 (as I mentioned earlier in this thread) with the First National Tour. I remember hearing sobs from the audience. My mother was weeping openly sitting next to me, too.

The song is powerful enough without wondering if the people sitting next to you recently lost someone, perhaps a son, in a very real and ugly war that was going on at the time.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 7/5/12 at 10:33pm

My Broadway Rutledge was David Cryer, summer of '69. Thankfully, Howard da Silva had recovered and was back in the show. As a performer, I've courtiously abstained as Lewis Morris in three different productions. My vote for most brilliant moment in the show, as someone has already mentioned, is "Compliments", with Abigail's triumphant "Saltpetre, John!", especially in the film. It never fails. It picks Adams up at his lowest moment, which is what good story-telling does best.