The cast of the A.R.T./Roundabout Theatre Company revival of 1776 recently held congress backstage with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren when the Massachusetts politician took in the June 16 performance of the musical about the founding fathers signing the Declaration of Independence.
Senator Warren took photos and visited with the company, sharing her thoughts on the event: "This is a tough time for our democracy. And there were moments in watching this play that I actually thought, oh my God, it's scary. We talk about democracy, and we think about who we are in lots of ways. We fight it on the floor of Congress, we talk about it through the media, but it is through art that it touches our hearts. And so when you put on a show like this, night after night, and people come in and get to feel it, not just to hear it, but to feel it, this is how we build our future. So, thank you all from the bottom of my heart."
Jeffrey L. Page and A.R.T. Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus co-direct the production, featuring a cast composed fully of performers who identify as female, non-binary, and trans. The A.R.T. run began in Cambridge, Massachusetts May 17 and plays through July 24. The production will then transfer to Roundabout's American Airlines Theatre on Broadway for performances beginning September 16.
The cast of the Peter Stone-Sherman Edwards musical includes Gisela Adisa as Robert Livingston, Nancy Anderson as George Read, Becca Ayers as Col. Thomas McKean, Tiffani Barbour as Andrew McNair, Allison Briner Dardenne as Stephen Hopkins, Allyson Kaye Daniel as Abigail Adams/Rev. Jonathan Witherspoon, Elizabeth A. Davis as Thomas Jefferson, Mehry Eslaminia as Charles Thomson, Joanna Glushak as John Dickinson, Shawna Hamic as Richard Henry Lee, Eryn LeCroy as Martha Jefferson/Dr. Lyman Hall, Crystal Lucas-Perry as John Adams, Liz Mikel as John Hancock, Patrena Murray as Benjamin Franklin, Oneika Philliips as Joseph Hewes, Lulu Picart as Samuel Chase, Sara Porkalob as Edward Rutledge, Sushma Saha as Judge James Wilson, Brooke Simpson as Roger Sherman, Salome Smith as the Courier, Sav Souza as Dr. Josiah Bartlett, Jill Vallery as Caesar Rodney, and Rose Van Dyne, Grace Stockdale, Ariella Serur, Sabrina K. Victor, and Imani Pearl Williams serving as standbys.
Sushma Saha, Sara Porkalob, Mehry Eslaminia, Gisela Adisa, Crystal Lucas-Perry, Elizabeth A. Davis, Becca Ayers, Brooke Simpson, and Oneika Phillips
Mehry Eslaminia, Brooke Simpson, Allison Briner Dardenne, Liz Mikel, Joanna Glushak, and Lulu Picart
Crystal Lucas-Perry and Shawna Hamic
Liz Mikel, Mehry Eslaminia, and of the company of 1776
Crystal Lucas-Perry, Gisela Adisa, Patrena Murray, and Brooke Simpson
Patrena Murray, Eryn LeCroy, and Elizabeth A. Davis
Allyson Kaye Daniel and Crystal Lucas-Perry
Sara Porkalob, Oneika Phillips, Sushma Saha, Joanna Glushak, Nancy Anderson, and Eryn LeCroy
Tiffani Barbour, Salome B. Smith, and company of 1776
Sara Porkalob, Crystal Lucas-Perry, Elizabeth A. Davis, and company of 1776
Crystal Lucas-Perry
