American history comes stirringly alive in Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone’s 1776, turning audiences at the La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts into flies on the walls of the Continental Congress of 1776 as our country’s Founding Fathers wrangle over the question of Independence.

 From the production’s striking opening tableau, it’s clear we’re in for something special, and even more so when a score of male voices join together to the strains of “For God’s Sake, John, Sit Down,” the first of Edwards’ dozen melodious, memorable songs.

 The “John” being asked to sit down is “obnoxious and disliked” future second president John Adams (Andy Umberger), and those doing the asking include Ben Franklin (Peter Van Norden), the inventor of the stove and countless bons mots still quoted today; Thomas Jefferson (Caleb Shaw), who finds himself pressured to go against his deepest convictions to get his Declaration passed unanimously; the very full-of-himself Richard Henry Lee (Michael Starr), whose “The Lees Of Old Virginia” comes with its own built-in encore;

 proud Southern gentleman Edward Rutledge (James Barbour), eager to rebuke his New England colleagues for the “aroma of hypocrisy floating down from the North”; John Dickenson (Michael Stone Forrest), the proudly pro-monarchy delegate from Pennsylvania;

 Abigail Adams (Teri Bibb), who sings long distance duets with her longed-for husband John; Martha Jefferson (Ellie Wyman), possessor of a little-known tidbit about her laconic spouse (“He Plays The Violin”); and an unnamed Courier (Nick McKenna) whose “Mama Look Sharp” encapsulates the horrors of war in three heartbreaking minutes.

Not only is 1776’s two-and-a-half-hour American history lesson the furthest thing from boring, like the best of Rodgers & Hammerstein, it risk-takingly flouts (or reinvents) musical theater conventions.

Debate sequences are entirely song-free. Several characters show up for a single solo, then vanish, never to return. Act One ends on an unexpectedly quiet note with a hitherto virtually unseen Courier singing hauntingly of what he has experienced on the battle field. Act Two dares to feature just two full-length songs. And never has a roll call been more edge-of-your-seat thrilling than the one that brings 1776 to its heart-stirring close.

 Though 1969’s Best Musical Tony winner celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year, as a piece of pure musical theater it doesn’t feel the slightest bit dated.

Younger audience members may, however, find themselves questioning its relevance to today’s United States beginning with this production’s almost entirely diversity-free cast, the diametric opposite of Hamilton’s 90%-POC ensemble. Millennials may find it hard to swallow in a #blacklivesmatter America the Founding Fathers’ decision to strike any mention of slavery from the Declaration, a concession made by the northern colonies “for the greater good” but one that kept human beings in chains for the next eight decades. And how is one to react to 1776 at a time when the principles for which its signers risked death are being flouted on a daily basis by those currently in power?

 There can be little carping, however, about Glenn Casale’s assured direction and imaginative musical staging, or about the superb performances being delivered by a crème-de-la-crème L.A.-based cast.

A towering Umberger gives us a John Adams who is at once a devoted husband, a clever politician, a tireless fighter for American independence, and obnoxious as all get-out.

Van Norden’s witty-and-he-knows-it Franklin and Shaw’s quietly, intelligently attentive Jefferson provide splendid support and help make “The Egg” a particular delight opposite Umberger’s Adams.

 Barbour’s Rutledge stays mostly in the background until Act Two’s explosive “Molasses To Rum” has him displaying the best-in-show baritone pipes that have made him a bona fide Broadway star.

 Starr’s irresistibly self-satisfied Lee, Bibb’s lovingly supportive Abigail, Wyman’s radiantly effervescent Martha, McKenna’s heartbreakingly touching Courier, and Forrest’s relentlessly adversarial Dickerson make the most of their scene-stealing solos.

Even the most minor of roles comes to vivid, distinctive life when portrayed by Ted Barton, Jason Chacon, Victor E. Chan, dance captain Michael Dotson, Gordon Goodman, Jordan Goodsell, Matthew Kimbrough, Jotapé Lockwood, Nick Santa Maria, Mitchell McCollum, Gary Lee Reed, Michael Rothhaar, Joey Ruggiero, Brad Rupp, Jordan Schneider, Rodrigo Varandas, and Peter Allen Vogt.

 1776 looks sensational on Stephen Gifford’s picture-perfect Continental Congress set, stunningly lit by Jared A. Sayeg as are Shon LeBlanc’s terrifically individualized period costumes, Kevin Williams’ spot-on 18th-century properties, and EB Bohks’ era-and-character-defining hair, wig, and makeup designs, and the production sounds spectacular thanks to designers Philip G. Allen and Leon Rothenberg and musical director Jeff Rizzo conducting a Broadway-caliber pit orchestra.

1776 is presented by La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment. Casting is by Julia Flores. Justen Asher is technical director. John W. Calder, III is production stage manager and Heidi Westrom is assistant stage manager.

Comparisons to the truly revolutionary Hamilton (“Be in the room where it actually happened!”) may be stretching things more than a bit too far, but that doesn’t make 1776 any less of a ground-breaker for its time. Broadway would be hard-pressed to match the caliber of this fiftieth-anniversary Los Angeles revival.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Boulevard, La Mirada.
www.lamiradatheatre.com

–Steven Stanley
January 12, 2019
Photos: Jason Niedle

Tags: La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts, Los Angeles Theater Review, Peter Stone, Sherman Edwards