If you have never experienced either the musical or the movie version of 1776, do yourself a favor and see it. 1776 tells the story of the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence and it is funny, a bit bawdy, intellectually challenging and emotionally gripping all in the same moment. The genius of the musical is that as you are watching events unfold, you begin to wonder if they will actually get this wacky experiment called the United States of America started.
The set of the play is, of course, the Continental Congress, but there are two prominent set pieces that catch your eye throughout the production.
One is a calendar that counts down the days toward July 4th. (I know that historically this day not exactly accurate, but go with it for goodness sake.) The other set piece is a tally board with the thirteen original colonies and their vote (Yea or Nay). You keep your eye on those two things throughout the show as the vote goes back and forth and as time seems to be running out.
The play presents the Founding Fathers as real and flawed human beings. They get bogged down in the drudgery of government. They are vain and petty. They have all the faults and vices of their descendants. They are presented as flesh and blood humans, not unlike us. That’s what makes the musical so enthralling.
The drama of the show also stems from the historical fact that the vote for independence had to be a unanimous one, with nary a Nay. At first, you think that this will never happen, because, the colonies seemed so deeply divided on the issue, and they become even more divided when the issue of slavery is broached. The South – with the exception of Virginia – won’t budge. The Northern colonies find this “peculiar institution” (possibly the worst euphemism of all time) abhorrent and, as one delegate puts it, “a stinking business.” Jefferson’s document must be changed or there will be no Declaration of Independence, no United States. Benjamin Franklin takes a pragmatic approach, while John Adams is a bit stauncher. When the moment comes to strike the anti-slavery portion of the Declaration, the dialogue is stirring, thought provoking and in hindsight, wrenching.
Franklin: John? I beg you consider what you’re doing.
Adams: Mark me, Franklin… if we give in on this issue, posterity will never forgive us.
Franklin: That’s probably true, but we won’t hear a thing, we’ll be long gone. Besides, what would posterity think we were? Demi-gods? We’re men, no more no less, trying to get a nation started against greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed. First things first, John. Independence; America. If we don’t secure that, what difference will the rest make?
And so against all odds, the motion for independence…passes.
It truly is a powerful moment on stage.
1776 ranks as the only musical I have been in three times, twice as Richard Henry Lee of Virginia (the one who proposes independence) and once as Thomas McKean of Delaware (a rough and tumble Scotsman who does not suffer fools). As Lee, I had the show stopping song where I could pull out all the stops and let loose and then, boom, I am out of the show. It was fun. As McKean, I had to speak with a Scottish accent which my good friend Chuck told me sounded like I was from Sweden. (Ach, I tried laddie!) Nevertheless, all three times I was in it, I had a blast onstage.
As the musical ends, John Hancock (the President of the Continental Congress) is preparing to sign the Declaration with his outsized signature. He says: Very well, gentlemen. We are about to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper.
Ultimately, the musical is about vision, compromise and commitment, three things we could all use right now.
The United States with all our faults, with all our failings, indeed, with all our sins, is still an amazing experiment, an amazing place.
Like Franklin says, we are not demi-gods, we are not perfect. But we do continually strive to become “a more perfect union.” We strive amidst all our controversies, debates and weaknesses to carry on the mission started in the stifling heat of Philadelphia in the summer of 1776.
Happy Fourth!
Father Kevin