Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 12, 1990 TAG: 9006120044
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF DeBELL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"It's great history and it's great musical theater," said Ernest Zulia, director of the play. "We think the combination is going to be perfect."
He could be right. The fondness of Mill Mountain audiences for summer musicals is well documented, and colonial history isn't exactly a foreign subject in the Old Dominion.
Nor should it hurt that Virginia's own Thomas Jefferson is a prominent character in the play.
The show opens Friday after preview performances Wednesday and Thursday, and will continue through July 8.
As part of the Friday opening, there will be a what the theater staff is calling a "red, white and blue go-for-broke celebration" in nearby Century Plaza. It will feature traditional fried chicken with the usual side dishes and beverages, plus a cash bar, and The Spirit of 1776 Musical Ensemble will entertain.
Following the opening-night performance, Stan Kingma and members of the Music for Americans Chorus will entertain in the atrium of Center in the Square.
"1776" opened on Broadway in March 1969 and played before enthusiastic audiences for more than three years. It won the Tony as best musical of 1969, plus Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics' Circle awards for Peter Stone's book.
Ironically, Stone had first declined Edwards' invitation to write the book. He said the subject had no promise as the basis of a musical, and besides student riots and other turbulent events of the 1960s had shown patriotism to be passe.
The librettist countered that anti-establishment events made the story of the rebellious colonists all the more relevant, and Stone eventually agreed.
Zulia, director of Mill Mountain's version of the play, said the same forces are again at work. Events in Tiananmen Square, the Soviet Balkan Republics and Eastern Europe give "1776" renewed timeliness on the international level, he said, and domestically there is relevance in the form of resistance to political threats against the National Endowment for the Arts.
"It's very exciting," Zulia said. "The issues behind the play we all know. They deal with freedom of the human spirit. It's theater at its best because it's theater that inspires."
The play is set at the Second Continental Congress where delegates from the 13 colonies are compromising and maneuvering their way toward the Declaration of Independence during the hot and fly-infested Philadelphia summer of 1776.
"Even though you know the ending, you don't think you do because it's structured so brilliantly," the director said. "That's one of the ironies of the play that makes it so effective."
The cast of 22 men and two women includes Bev Appleton as John Adams, Frederick Walters as Benjamin Franklin, Al Gordon as John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, James Barbour as Thomas Jefferson and Raymond Sage as Edward Rutledge of South Carolina. All are new to Mill Mountain except Barbour, whose credits there include "My Fair Lady," "Zeke's Vision" and "The Bug."
Gordon is chairman of the theater department at Washington and Lee University.
Well-known Showtimers actors Jeff Berger and Tim Toler are moving to the Mill Mountain stage for "1776." Also among the nine Roanoke actors who are in the show are Tom Mason, Doug Patterson, Gene Galvin and Dan Frei.
New York actresses Mary Jane Robbins and Isabel Keating play Abigail Adams and Martha Jefferson, respectively.
Zulia is Mill Mountain's associate director. His directing credits there include "Sunday in the Park With George" and "Jesus Christ Superstar."
Scenery for "1776" is by John Sailer, resident designer/technical director. Costumes are by Richard E. Donnelly and Kenneth J. Davis is stage manager.
The opening-night gala in Century Plaza starts at 6 p.m. Admission to both party and play is $25 per person. Admission to the picnic alone is $10. Tickets can be reserved through the Mill Mountain box office.
"1776" opens Friday after preview performances Wednesday and Thursday. The play continues through July 8. Performances start at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. at weekend matinees. There will be special matinees June 20, 27 and July 4. General admission is $12 Tuesday through Thursday, $15 Friday and Saturday evenings and $12 at all matinees. Discounts are available to groups of 15 or more. There is a $2 discount for students and senior citizens. Half-price tickets, called Hot Tix, are available from 6 to 6:30 p.m. weeknights and from 6:30 to 7 p.m. on weekends. They are sold only at the box office - reservations are not allowed - and only for cash. The box office number is 342-5740.
by CNB