1776

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1776

Musical Theatre West at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center

Reviewed by Les Spindle

July 14, 2010

Photo by Ken Jacques

Opening less than a week past Independence Day, this powerful revisit to a stirring historical musical by songwriter Sherman Edwards and book writer Peter Stone provides a perfect celebration of the patriotic holiday. The 1969 opus is as much a play as a musical in its meticulously researched dramatization of the final days leading to the U.S. Congress' drafting, approval, and signing of the Declaration of Independence. Director Nick DeGruccio's magnificent rendition demonstrates that fine acting is a crucial requirement in certain musicals.

Not that Edwards short-changes us on musical pleasures. The lively score, consisting of vibrant orchestral marches, lilting romantic ballads ("Till Then"), hilarious vaudevillian ditties ("The Lees of Old Virginia"), and galvanizing group numbers ("Cool, Cool, Considerate Men") is captivating throughout. The glorious songs are in shipshape form here, thanks to music director Matthew Smedal, his terrific orchestra, and the cast's vocal prowess.

The handsomely textured production elements—highlighted by uncredited set and costume designs, Cliff Senior's splendid period wigs, and Steven Young's superb lighting—wonderfully conjure the story's time and place. DeGruccio's picturesque staging, including some goose bump–inducing tableaux effects, evokes memories of vintage history-book photographs.

The seamless ensemble effort is led by a consummate central portrayal by Steven Glaudini as the "obnoxious and disliked" but unfailingly caring John Adams, who badgers the lollygagging Congressmen into decisive action, despite the odds. Glaudini's Adams is a heroic icon-to-be, less interested in popularity than in fulfilling his dream for an end to British tyranny and a new and free nation. It's a passionate and mesmerizing star performance. Lending great comic relief as Adams' closest ally, Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Vinovich is a droll delight, kicking up the codger's gout-ridden heels with abandon and pulling off choice bons mots. Davis Gaines' boisterous shenanigans as good-ole-boy Richard Henry Lee deservedly bring down the house. Other performances are likewise inspired, particularly Robert J. Townsend's ruthless anti-revolutionary Edward Rutledge (especially in the smashing "Molasses to Rum"), John Bisom's libidinous Thomas Jefferson, and Jack Messenger's ailing Caesar Rodney. Playing the devoted Congressional wives, Tami Tappan Damiano (as Abigail Adams) and Jessica Bernard (as Martha Jefferson) sing divinely and help counterbalance the testosterone-charged chamber-room battles.

That this story's foregone conclusion is uncannily preceded by nail-biting tension is a tribute to the committed and nuanced characterizations of DeGruccio's masterful ensemble.

Presented by Musical Theatre West at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 E. Atherton, Long Beach. July 10–25. Thu.–Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 and 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. (562) 856-1999, ext. 4. www.musical.org.