2026 Live & About Spring Season 1776 at Ford's Theatre
- New Music-Theatre
- 23 hours ago
- 2 min read
We invite your comments for 1776 at Ford's
As all of us didn't get a chance to discuss together after the performance of 1776, or maybe the experience at Ford's Theater caused further reflection, please share your thoughts. We will post for all. Don't feel you have to answer all the questions. Your ideas are always valued. And sharing by jotting down even the briefest notes helps crystallize the experience.
Some Questions from Susan:
1776, the musical, has been produced twice before at Ford’s Theater, this time as part of America’s 250th anniversary season. In the new production, the director used a framing device of a “living museum exhibition” with actors entering in contemporary street clothes then slowly changing into period costumes and characters. How did this amplify the themes and storytelling for you if it did?
The opening number in a classically written American musical is, typically, a ‘big deal.’ Why did the creative team choose to start their story with “Sit down, John, sit down!”
What was meant in putting Abigail Adams and Martha Jefferson appearing in Philadelphia during the Congressional hearings?
In 1776, almost every character gets a song. Is there one or two that stood out for you and say why? Did the song advance the story? Deepen the character? Change the mood?
This musical has a great amount of spoken text, and how did this function?
And a final reflection…
The director was also the choreographer and, as in most musicals, the songs and choreography both stopped the action and broke period conventions? Live & About outings take advantage of DMV productions which integrate music in one way or another. As a theater-goer, are you one who buys into the conventions of musicals or do you still sometimes struggle with an actor breaking into song? How do great singer-actors finesse a style of performance that carries you along with them?
1) The living museum exhibition device highlights the plays relevance. Through this device, the 2026 audience relates to those struggling with collective action 250 years ago.
4) Love the Richard Lee song. It provided levity and a created a successful caricature of Richard Lee.
Mary Procknow
I thoroughly enjoyed 1776. Here are some thoughts on your questions.
Depicting John Adams as "obnoxious and disliked" emphasized the late-twentieth-century historians’ view that Adams was a good activist for independence, but Jefferson was a more democratic advocate. During the bicentennial period, Americans celebrated expanded civil rights. Therefore, the playwright transitions the spotlight from Adams’ balanced three-branch government to Jefferson, and the aspirational preamble to the Declaration of Independence of “all men are created equal." While the Adams-Jefferson debate continues, most historians regard Adams as highly respected in Congress and as its best constitutional thinker.
The addition of Abigail and Martha helps us see Adams and Jefferson not as statues but as people with feelings, disappointments, and anxieties. They…
1. When the show started I did not know who the people were who were going up on stage. It was a bit confusing. Was this some sort of VIP access before the show started? Were they checking the props were properly in place? What could this be? As they began to intermingle with the actors in period dress I sensed they were actors making a connection between the present and the past. This was reinforced for me by the way each reached out but did not actually touch the hand of the other. Hands across time, as it were. It helped me feel connected to the history on stage before me, reinforcing that it was my history too.
I was pretty close to…
I absolutely loved the talented cast, personalities, and singing. I don’t believe I had seen 1776 before and so it truly brought to light the tedious efforts to establish the Declaration of Independence and work through and respect & listen to each delegate’s perspective while ensuring the democratic process. I thought how these ‘founding fathers’ would be appalled by our current administration.
I feel that Abigail Adams and Martha Jefferson were present in Philadelphia to demonstrate the female perspective and significant contribution (the separation from their husbands for periods of time and the hardships endured while maintaining the home and children). Transportation and communication were so different and it certainly must have created additional strain and time delays awaiting…