A muddled attempt to reorient history with the Broadway revival of ‘1776’
Welcome to Curtain Call, our mostly queer take on the latest openings on Broadway and beyond. It’s spring 1776, and the Second Continental Congress is gathered in Philadelphia while the American colonies fight through the Revolutionary War’s bloody first year.
It may seem an unlikely story for a Broadway musical, yet the subject matter feels more timely than ever in politically contentious 2022 America.The Roundabout Theatre Company revival of 1776 dares to recast the original 1969 production with women, transgender and nonbinary performers who represent a range of ages, races, and ethnicities.
They are the individuals who were not included or considered in our nation’s founding, each of them powerful enough to shake the stage of the American Airlines Theatre.
From co-directors Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus, 1776 is a lens on America’s origins, and it is determined to broaden the audience’s focus.The concept of Paulus and Page’s 1776 is thrilling: to behold a diverse company portraying a story that’s literally about the ideals and principles of white-cis-male politicians.
