1776 at The Kennedy Center

Talkin Broadway - Highly Recommended

"...To say the touring production of 1776 now at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater in Washington is nontraditional is to understate the goal of directors Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus. Instead of a straightforward musical retelling of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this production casts the (white, male) members of the Continental Congress with people who were not included in that process: women, nonbinary performers, and people of color. It's audacious and often works, but at times the presentational element does not fit comfortably with Peter Stone's book and Sherman Edwards' score."

DC Theater Arts - Somewhat Recommended

"...The deeper we get into the show, the less it seems to matter whether we are seeing men or women players in any of the roles. They are simply people — some brilliant, some corrupt, and others not quite up to the task of nation-building. If the goal of this production is to assert a feminist viewpoint with a cast playing against type, the point is largely lost as we become increasingly caught up in a messy, meat-grinding drama whose outcome we all know well. Yet the fact that they aren’t men reminds us that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the inalienable rights of all people, regardless of gender."

Theatre Bloom - Highly Recommended

"...Is anybody there? Does anybody care? That certainly seems to echo the sentiments of our country at present where large groups of people are concerned. When the Founding Fathers of this infantile country set out to free themselves from the tyranny of King George and the mighty English Empire... well, what we've got here in 2023? I'm sure they never could have dreamed of this. The story is history, that much is true. (Give or take the creative liberties that musical theatre folk tend to put together when they're spinning history into a stage musical.)"