"1776," the 1969 musical created by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone about the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, currently being revived by the Signal Ensemble Theatre, is a mostly lighthearted adventure in parliamentary maneuvering.
Seeing the birth of the nation in Philadelphia through song and dance, with courageous protagonists John Adams (Philip Winston)and Ben Franklin (Vincent Lonergan), likely reminds audience members of a three-hour installment of "Schoolhouse Rock," which is not a bad thing, if you believe the history portion of "Schoolhouse" does, in fact, rock.
The show, for the most part, is tongue in cheek, but historically accurate and fun, truthfully portraying the cantankerous idealism of Adams, as well as the oft-overlooked randiness of Franklin and Thomas Jefferson (Tim Howard). This overwhelmingly male show manages to find room for cameos by Abigail Adams (Anne Sheridan Smith) and Martha Jefferson (Lindsay Naas), ostensibly to humanize but mostly because every musical has to have those beautiful dames!
Where the show goes slightly awry is in an artless mish-mash of tone. The production devotes so much of the show to lighthearted ribaldry and punning. This in turn makes the dark songs, about topics like the horrors of war and the devil's bargain the Founders made with slavery, seem jarringly out of place.
For the most part, though, this show is a charming good time, if you have a fairly strong stomach for cheese.
Reviewed by Centerstage!
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