I want to be in the room where it happened.
Travel back to Philadelphia in the summer of 1776, where John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and a host of other colonists dare to do the unthinkable and declare independence from Great Britain. Gender-blind casting brings this historic story forward into the modern age, so that the refrain of “Sit Down, John” resounds with shades of “Nevertheless, She Persisted.”
Enjoy this Tony-award winning musical in a modern staged concert production on the historic Wisconsin Union Theater stage. Directed by Jen Uphoff Gray with Music Direction by Thomas Kasdorf.
Encompassing three hot months in the summer of 1776 in Philadelphia, 1776 is both a telling of how our country came to be ...and how close it came to not happening at all. With a brilliant book by Peter Stone and songs by New Jersey schoolteacher and songwriter Sherman Edward, the musical is rarely performed due to the large cast and orchestra needed to bring it to life. We're grateful that Music Theatre Interational (MTI) has worked with the authors to allow companies to explore non-traditional casting and to think about what it meant to be in the room where it happened then - and what it means to be in the room now.
Members of the Continental Congress
President
John Hancock............................................................. Donavon Armbruster
New Hampshire
Dr. Josiah Bartlett.................................................................... Shannon Seip
Massachusetts
John Adams.................................................................... Clare Arena Haden
Rhode Island
Stephen Hopkins...................................................................... Tom Hensen
Connecticut
Roger Sherman...................................................................... John Jajewski
New York
Lewis Morris........................................................................... Duane Draper
Robert Livingston.................................................................... David Neuser
New Jersey
Rev. John Witherspoon.............................................................. James Aehl
Pennsylvania
Benjamin Franklin...................................................................... Amy L. Welk
John Dickinson..........................................................................Jace Nichols
James Wilson.................................................................. Sean Langenecker
Delaware
Caesar Rodney............................................................................ Peter Hunt
Col. Thomas McKean............................................................ Allisanne Apple
George Read................................................................................ Joe Green
Maryland
Samuel Chase............................................................................. Bart Terrell
Virginia
Richard Henry Lee............................................................ Maurice Goodwin
Thomas Jefferson............................................................... Sarah C. Streich
North Carolina
Joseph Hewes.................................................... Sarah Brown Hadjimarkos
South Carolina
Edward Rutledge................................................................ Jessica Kasinski
George
Dr. Lyman Hall......................................................................... Neil Peterson
Congressional Secretary Charles Thomson...................... Erin McConnell
Congressional Custodian Andrew McNair........................... Marja Barger
A Leather Apron..................................................................... Elijah Edwards
Courier.................................................................................... Maddie Uphoff
Abigail Adams............................................................................ Scott Haden
Martha Jefferson........................................................................ Lisa Mueller
The Production Team includes Director Jen Uphoff Gray, Music Director Thomas Kasdorf, Stage Manager Martinique Barthel, Scenic Designer Joseph Varga, Lighting Designer Ken Ferencek, Sound Designer Brian Anderson, Costume Designers Susan Gustaf, Technical Director Corey Helser, Choreographer Maureen Janson, and Conductor Eric Anderson.
Joining them are ASM Sarah Luedtke, Costume Assistant Sarah Marty, Rehearsal Pianist Jeff Krueger, and Backstage Arts Interns Lukas Daniels (sound) and Martha Anderson (ASM), with other crew members TBD.
