Once
again, Encores! pulls a musical gem
from out of the ether, this time 1776,
last seen in revival in 1997 with Brent
Spiner (born 1949) as John Adams. 1776 features music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards (1919-1981) and a book
by Peter Stone (1930-2003). The
original production opened on March 16, 1969, at the 46th Street Theatre and
played for 1,217 performances, winning the Tony for Best Musical, trouncing Hair and Zorba in the process. (Inexplicably,
time has looked favorably on both Hair and Zorba, but here the Tony committee
made the right decision.)
The show
was invited to perform at the White House, Courtesy of then-President Richard Nixon (1913-1994). This caused concern for some in the show,
most notably Howard Da Silva
(1909-1986), who played Ben Franklin. The last time Da Silva had received an
invitation from Nixon, it was to testify before 1947's House Committee on
Un-American Activities (HUAC), the anti-communist purge Nixon enabled during
his time in Congress. Da Silva refused to talk and was subsequently blacklisted
from Hollywood for many years.
Amazingly, the show decided to play for the President, and did so uncut.
Many are
familiar with the movie version, released in 1972 and retaining the entire,
original Broadway cast – a rarity at the time.
The film is a record of the show as it was originally, save for the
excision of a song critical of a conservative Congress, “Cool, Cool Considerate
Men,” which was cut by Jack Warner
at the request of Nixon – a cut the Broadway producers would not allow when the
show played live in the White House. The
film was a commercial disappointment, but it has had a continual afterlife on
television, where it plays every July 4th.
In an
election year, when it seems that the nation is moving further and further away
from the democratic ideals of the Founding Fathers, it’s only natural that
Encores! revive the show now. Despite
that impetus, though, it is a choice more interesting than artistically sound,
for no matter how much I immoderately love 1776, I must admit that it is an
uneven, and ultimately unsuccessful, show.
While it has always remained a great favorite of Your Correspondent, I
cannot dismiss its many flaws.
What’s
good: Peter Stone’s book, which is
amusing, compelling and historically accurate.
Rather than render the Founders as a bunch of plaster saints, he creates
real human beings who have their private agendas, rivalries and petty
complaints. What’s not-so-good: much of
the score by Edwards. It’s not
surprising that there are no songs from the show that have emerged as
standards, because none of them work outside of the context of the action of
the show. And even with that in mind,
most of the songs are ponderous, heavy-handed and unsingable. What’s bad: even a musical with indifferent
songs should sing, and so much of
1776 concentrates on the book, that the distantly-placed songs often seem like
an after-thought.
The
original Broadway and film cast were able to surmount many of these complaints
through sheer charm and magnetism. The
Encores! cast includes Santino Fontana as John Adams, John Behlmann
as Thomas Jefferson, and John
Larroquette as Ben Franklin, with Nikki Renée Daniels as Martha Jefferson and Christiane Noll as
Abigail Adams. With the surprising exception of Larroquette,
each performer brings a great deal to the table.
We have
admired Fontana in the past (notably in Cinderella
and Zorba), but he is perhaps too soft and likeable a player for the obnoxious and
disliked Adams; he is, however, top notch in his romantic duets with the
incandescent Noll, who glistens as Abigail.
Daniels
has only one number as Martha Jefferson, but she and it are spectacular. Her voice is clear and dulcet, shimmering
with a vibrancy that is palpable. One
day she will be a big star. Behlmann, as
Jefferson, is Americana personified.
Tall, lanky and impossibly handsome, Behlmann brings Gary Cooper more to mind than
Jefferson, but his grace and charm radiate from the stage.
Larroquette
would initially seem to be inspired casting, but his performance is
disappointing. As written, Franklin
serves more as a Greek chorus to the action, making wry asides and winking at
the audience. Larroquette – under-rehearsed
and under-prepared – seems so peripheral as to be absent. Franklin has the best lines in the show, but
you wouldn’t know it from Larroquette’s lazy performance.
Director
Garry Hynes stages 1776 in
contemporary times, and it’s not surprising that much of the cast struggled
with their lines in such a book-heavy show.
But the Congressmen who do not carry their weight (how some things never
change!) are more than complimented by those who shine. Particular praise should go to Jacob Keith Watson as Robert Livingston of New York, Macintyre Dixon as the Custodian
(handily stealing every scene he is in), and the fabulous Robert Sella as Secretary Charles
Thomson. Thomson is a thankless role,
but Sella brings so much wry humor, understatement and weight to the part that
the impression is undeniable – more of Mr. Sella, please.
Alexander Gemignani nearly stops the show with his
powerful number “Molasses to Rum,” a song virtually impossible to sing, and Bryce Pinkham, as Pennsylvanian John Dickinson, shows very strong. Ben
Whiteley is the guest music director, and he acquits himself smartly.
Much
like the original, Viet Nam-era production, director Hynes uses the story of
the Founding Fathers to comment on contemporary, dysfunctional politics. Where the original emphasis may have been on
a Congress and American leadership disassociated from the public actually
fighting the war, Hynes uses the opportunity to attack our Congress which is so
mired in party politics as to be paralyzed.
The song “Cool, Cool Considerate Men” has been slightly tweaked to Conservative men, and while we here at The Jade Sphinx think there is more
than enough opprobrium to spread on both sides of the political divide, the
choice works well.
Though never a perfect show, 1776 is a stunning reflection of American ideals, grounded in debate, high-minded moralism and Enlightenment era independent thinking. We could use a little more of all of that right now.
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