1776

May 17, 2022 - Jul 24, 2022
Loeb Drama Center
Run Time: 2 hours and 45 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission

Recommended for grades 8+.

Tickets

From $25

Recommended for grades 8+.

Run Time

2 hours and 45 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission
Tickets

From $25

Information
Photos & Videos
Press Coverage
Explore
Credits

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Deeply moving! An exhilarating and touching embrace of the possibilities of the future.

The Washington Post

Captivating! A master class in musical theater revivals!

Broadway World

They knew they would make history, but not what history would make of them. Fed up with living under the tyranny of British rule, John Adams attempts to persuade his fellow members of the Continental Congress to vote in favor of American Independence and sign the Declaration. But how much is he willing to compromise in the pursuit of freedom? And who does that freedom belong to? Jeffrey L. Page and A.R.T. Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus direct a new production of the Tony Award-winning musical, reexamining this pivotal moment in American history with a cast that reflects multiple representations of race, gender, and ethnicity.

Following its run at A.R.T., 1776 will play at Roundabout Theatre Company in fall 2022 and begin a national tour in February 2023.

This production contains stylized representations of racialized violence, particularly related to enslavement. Additionally, this production contains sexually suggestive themes, occasional strong language, haze, a brief strobe effect, a non-firing replica firearm, and a gunshot sound effect.

Music and Lyrics by Sherman Edwards
Book by Peter Stone
Based on a Concept by Sherman Edwards
Directed by Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus
Choreography by Jeffrey L. Page
A co-production with Roundabout Theatre Company

Notable dates

Opening Celebration: 5/26
ASL Interpreted: 7/13 at 7:30PM & 7/16 at 2PM
Audio Described: 6/17 at 7:30PM, 6/18 at 2PM, 7/9 at 2PM, & 7/15 at 7:30PM
Open Captioned: 6/23 at 7:30PM, 6/25 at 2PM, 7/9 at 2PM, & 7/14 at 7:30PM
Relaxed: 7/17 at 2PM

Production Sponsors of 1776
Katie and Paul Buttenwieser
The Linda Hammett Ory & Andrew Ory Charitable Trust
Allison Johnson
Serena and Bill Lese

Education and Engagement Support
Ford Foundation

Additional Production Support
Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine
Janet and Irv Plotkin
Professor Mark V. Tushnet
National Endowment for the Arts

Additional Education and Engagement Support
Bank of America
Fresh Sound Foundation
Klarman Family Foundation
Mass Humanities

Production Support of 1776 at Roundabout Theatre Company
Elizabeth Armstrong

COVID-19 Protocols

Masks are optional but encouraged. Stay informed about our full policies.

Resources for Healing

An explanation of the effects of racial trauma and tools that audiences can use to process it, plus additional resources.

Accessibility

Find out about our theater’s accessibility.

Ticketing Policies

Learn about our ticketing policies and discounts, including for seniors, EBT cardholders, students, and audience members under 25.

Photos & Videos

Patrena Murray closes a curtain in front of Elizabeth A. Davis staring at Eryn LeCroy.

Press Coverage

Reviews

Tiffani Barbour seated to the left, and members of the company in the background, watch Salome B. Smith.

The Washington Post

Deeply moving…inspirational casting. An exhilarating and touching embrace of the possibilities of the future.

Read full article

Deeply moving…inspirational casting. An exhilarating and touching embrace of the possibilities of the future.

Read full article

Sushma Saha, Sara Porkalob, Mehry Eslaminia, Gisela Adisa, Elizabeth A. Davis, Becca Ayers, Brooke Simpson, and Oneika Phillips arranged in V behind Crystal Lucas-Perry and a desk.

WBUR

Electrifying! Not your (founding) fathers’ 1776. An extraordinarily talented cast.

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Electrifying! Not your (founding) fathers’ 1776. An extraordinarily talented cast.

Read full article

Broadway World

A master class in musical theater revivals. I have no doubt that it will succeed when it moves to Broadway…in the meantime, get over to the A.R.T. to see it.

Read full article

A master class in musical theater revivals. I have no doubt that it will succeed when it moves to Broadway…in the meantime, get over to the A.R.T. to see it.

Read full article

Boston Herald

A dynamic, captivating Broadway musical about to win some 2023 Tonys.

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A dynamic, captivating Broadway musical about to win some 2023 Tonys.

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Sara Porkalob, Oneika Phillips, Sushma Saha, Joanna Glushak, Nancy Anderson, and Eryn LeCroy standing and posing in a tableau.

Variety

Audacious…Page and Paulus go all-in.

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Audacious…Page and Paulus go all-in.

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Features

The Boston Globe

ART’s ‘1776’ aims to give history a shake

“When we shift the gaze so you see a different perspective, we start to hear things that we didn’t hear before and see things that maybe we didn’t want to see but that have always been in the story from the beginning,” says [Crystal] Lucas-Perry.

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The Washington Post

At a time of angry uproar, theater can still show us the way forward

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.

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WBUR

A.R.T.’s ‘1776’ calls on us to remember those left out of the Declaration of Independence

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?

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Boston Herald

A.R.T. Flips the Script for a Re-imagined ‘1776’

Sosa wanted to capture history in his costumes. At the same time, he wanted them to speak to the personalities of the performers and the complex legacy of both 1776 the year and “1776” the Broadway musical… “This isn’t a museum piece…It lives in the now even if we are telling the story of an event.”

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Sara Porkalob, Crystal Lucas-Perry, and Elizabeth A. Davis stand in a group in front of members of the company.

The Harvard Gazette

Finding fresh perspectives in ‘1776’

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.

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A screenshot of Julia Schahnik and Karen Holmes Ward on CityLine.

WCVB CityLine

“1776”, A Broadway-Bound Musical

Julia Schachnik, A.R.T.’s Community Organizing Manager, explains how the nontraditional casting of women and women of color as the “Founding Fathers” impacts the storytelling.

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Julia Schachnik, A.R.T.’s Community Organizing Manager, explains how the nontraditional casting of women and women of color as the “Founding Fathers” impacts the storytelling.

Read full article

The cast of 1776 with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Playbill

See Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Visit Opening Night of A.R.T.’s 1776

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.

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Hair, Make-Up, and Wig Designer Mia Neal with members of the company behind her clapping.

The Bay State Banner

A.R.T.’s ‘1776’ musical reimagines Founding Fathers with diverse cast

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.

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The cast of 1776 in front of a abstracted geometric colorful flag.

Playbill

Cast Set for the Broadway-Bound 1776 at A.R.T.

“With Diane [Paulus, Director], we’ve explored the unsaid, unspoken, and unwritten history,” said Director/Choreographer Jeffrey L. Page, “and as a result I have found myself inside of the important piece of art, inside of American history, and I have learned something new about both.”

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Explore

A.R.T. Guide

Explore the many perspectives of history that informed the educational mission of this production of 1776.

Read Now

Explore the many perspectives of history that informed the educational mission of this production of 1776.

Read Now

We Declare

We Declare is an opportunity to engage with the essential questions posed by 1776, created in collaboration with our artists and educators, with the hopes that we engage together in a dialogue around what matters to us in the United States of America.

Visit We Declare

Declaration Reclamation

MAY – JULY, 2022

How is my story a part of American history? Explore this question through a series of free workshops, conversations, and gatherings taking place across Greater Boston. Participants of any of the events will receive complimentary tickets to the June 28 performance of 1776!

Learn More

Titles include: Caste, Someone Knows My Name, The 1619 Project, Our Declaration, The Counter-Revolution of 1776, An Afro-Indigenous History of The United States, Liberty Is Sweet, and An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

Reading List

Our friends at the Boston Public Library Reader Services Team, which includes Veronica Koven-Matasy, Eileen Sherman, Jordan Draves, Kirsten DeCortin, and Denise DeBoer, have curated a reading list for to complement 1776.

Start Reading

A person n front of a bench stares at a large, colorful mural in a dark room.

We Are the People

In conjunction with 1776, A.R.T. invited Artists For Humanity teens to design a visual representation of their answers to the production’s Four Essential Questions.

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In conjunction with 1776, A.R.T. invited Artists For Humanity teens to design a visual representation of their answers to the production’s Four Essential Questions.

Learn More

Digital Program

Learn about the collaboration of artists who created the show, as well as the staff, supporters, and partners who made it possible.

Virtual Workshop Tips

Lessons learned during the April 2020 digital workshop.

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Lessons learned during the April 2020 digital workshop.

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1776 Salon

In anticipation of the A.R.T.’s upcoming revival of 1776 and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, A.R.T. has invited various Harvard scholars to participate in a series of lectures and discussions around the history of our nation.

Learn More