Media Archive

Theater is inherently an art form about freedom. Its mission has always been to challenge us to reflect in novel ways on the state of the world — as a vehicle not just for the loudest voices, but also for society’s most contrarian, oppressed, marginalized…It is opening floodgates of opportunity, seeking to fill our imaginative reservoirs with the creativity of — as Adams declares — all Americans.

The cast is made up of immigrants, Native Americans, ancestors of the enslaved and oppressed, queer and trans bodies. They make the audience reckon with the question: Independence for whom? And what kind of nation would this be if they had been considered in the first place?

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson (associate justice-designate of the U.S. Supreme Court) attended the May 26 opening performance of 1776. A photo of Judge Jackson at her Supreme Court Senate confirmation hearings provided inspiration for one of the new production’s opening tableaus, and her presence was particularly meaningful.

Finding something new—and true—bring to a portrayal of historical figures as well-known as Thomas Jefferson and John Hancock is a challenge. But for the actors in the cross-gendered and racially diverse revival of the beloved musical “1776,” …history has proved a tool as well as a burden.

Mia Neal, the hair, wig and makeup designer who recently won an Oscar for her work on “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” is used to creating elaborate styles for dramatized characters. But in this vision of “1776,” keeping the actors aesthetically close to their own styles was important.