Theater Review: '1776 The Musical' at Musicals at Richter

Review by Connecticut Critics Circle member and Naugatuck Patch neighbor Nancy Sasso Janis

Musicals at Richter produced “1776 The Musical” just in time for the special celebration of American independence. The long-running outdoor musical venue had weather issues during the run, but I managed to attend the final Friday performance for my review. MAR holds the title of Connecticut’s longest-running outdoor theater and is celebrating its 42nd season.

The musical includes the book written by Peter Stone (who also wrote the screenplay for the film version of “1776,” and memorable music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards. The musical is based on a concept by Edwards and its original production was directed by Peter Hunt. It tells the story of the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, focusing on the efforts of John Adams to persuade his colleagues in the Continental Congress to vote for American independence and to sign the document.

Executive Director Robert Bria wrote: “It is especially fitting that we mark [the 250th Anniversary of the United States of America] with a production of “1776,” a musical that reminds us of the courage, conviction, sacrifice, and spirited debate that shaped our nation’s founding.” Bria adds that the themes in the show remain relevant today, and it “celebrates not only the birth of America but also the enduring ideals upon which it was founded.”

The MAR production was led by David Halliwell, who provided the fine direction of the large cast. The director dedicated the production to his father who had a hard-won patriotism.

Rob Mayette returned to MAR to play the “obnoxious and disliked” John Adams and gave an excellent performance. Adams sings “Piddle, Twiddle” and has the lovely duets with Abigail of “Till Then” and “Yours, Yours, Yours.” And of course, he is part of “For God’s Sake, John, Sit Down.” Mayette is the dedicated director of MAR’s Fairy Tale Theater program.

Chris Hetherington (Caiaphas in “JCS” at Downtown Cabaret) brought his great stage presence to the role of the Congress’ president, John Hancock. Chris Neville represented New Hampshire as Dr. Josiah Bartlett. Audiobook narrator Peter Lerman played Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island, and Alli Byrne represented New Jersey as Dr. John Witherspoon in her MAR debut. New York abstained from voting with Virginia Ruszczyk as Lewis Morris and Danbury High School student Pedro Couy as Robert Livingston.

In the important role of Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania was the inimitable Ted Schwartz, in his 19th role on this stage. Joe Harding played the contentious John Dickinson in his MAR debut and Jeff Yelton returned to MAR to play James Wilson.

Delaware had WestConn junior Sedona Taylor as the ailing Caesar Rodney and Priscilla Squiers as the Scottish Col. Thomas McKean with a fine accent. Squiers played Abigail in this show in 1990 with her husband Kylel Minor as John Dickinson. Two-time Halo award winner Andrew Nittolo-Novotny rounded out the trio as George Read.

Michele Dugan played Samuel Chase of Maryland (pronounced as “Mary + land, “) while North Carolina’s Joseph Hewes was played by Sarah Knowles, a rising senior at Manhattanville University, and South Carolina’s Edward Rutledge was portrayed by Michael Solano. Rutledge sings the telling “Molasses to Rum.”

Virginia had the director covering the role of Richard Henry Lee, who sings the praises of his family name in “The Lees of Old Virginia,” and Brookfield Selectman Karl Hinger as the red-headed Thomas Jefferson, who is part of “The Egg” and pleads with others in “But, Mr. Adams–” Georgia was represented by Dr. Lyman Hall played by Emma Kelly.

Michael Wright had a lot to do as the congressional secretary Charles Thomson and Walter Ruszczyk of Brewster, NY passed out the rum as the custodian Andrew McNair. Lucia Eklund donned A Leather Apron, Christian Eklund delivered messages from George Washington as a courier (“Momma, Look Sharp”) and Lucia Eklund played a painter. Christian will attend WestConn in the fall as a BFA Musical Theatre major and Lucia plans to attend WestConn to major in education.

The two women included in this story are Abigail Adams and Martha Jefferson (“He Plays the Violin.”) Gail Reiser had the beautiful soprano voice for Abigail and choreographer Emma Kelly played the lovely Martha in her MAR debut.

The action takes place in the chamber of that long-ago Continental Congress and its anterooms, a mall, High Street and Jefferson’s room, all in Philadelphia during May, June and July of 1776, and “certain reaches of John Adam’s mind.” Bria designed a set that includes all of those spaces in front of the very warm congression room that houses all of the delegates and allows the Congressional Custodian to “open up a window.”

Andrew Gadwah, who teaches at New Fairfield High School, was the music director and conducted the small orchestra from behind keyboard 1. The music sounded appropriately patriotic and Emma Kelly was the choreographer for the small number of songs with dancing. I did not notice any of the musicians leaving the tent for the long stretch between “The Lees of Old Virginia” and “But, Mr. Adams–.”

The costumes and wigs designed by Stephanie Salsman were true to the time period, with colorful outfits for the various gentlemen. The ladies were dressed in the style of 1776 and the commoners that appear in the garb of the working class. Bria worked as the tech liaison, all of which functioned well.

The program contains a list of the members of the Continental Congress and the states that they represent. Residents of our state probably knew the name Roger Sherman (played by Nicholas Eklund, who just completed his sophomore year at WestConn studying Music Ed) the man who signed the Declaration for Connecticut, but the other founding fathers could become unwieldy to place. I enjoyed remembering who came from where.

During his curtain speech, Bria shared that this production contains a special piece of MAR’s history. The wooden tally board prop appeared in the 1990 production of “1776,” and it was designed and built by the late Marc DiJohn. The set designer/master carpenter of the previous production was taken from this world later that same year. Now his craftsmanship is shared with a new generation of audiences.

The script for this Tony Award-winning musical draws from the true history of our country and therefore contains challenging conversations and some uncomfortable truths from its past, including an intense depiction of the Atlantic slave trade that is both true and difficult to hear. It is for this reason that audience discretion is advised.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this polished and inspiring production of “1776.”