1776 Reviews

Oh well from San Diego, California

DISAPPOINTING, ULTIMATELY FELT LIKE A MOCKERY

What's said nowhere in the main descriptions is that this is an all female cast. They did well, and their best, but I just could NOT suspend disbelief. When the soldier soloed for a Vietnamesque recounting of her time at the front, it came off as simply offensive. If we're going to take gendered privileges' seriously, surely the most important is the privilege to not fight and die, something exclusive to women. So a woman recounting the horrors of battle came off as... sort of gross . She was great, though. Excellent performances. Ultimately, it struck me as a small-minded production, a statement against men, one that usurped their triumphs and hardships, their very experience of life, the stuff women cannot understand. Maybe the intent was something more kind and nuanced. It's just how it felt. The cast was very good. Theater should takes risks. I don't hold it against them. I just don't think they pulled it off.

Janet Foster from Seattle, Washington

TECHNICAL NEEDS WORK

I love this musical and was excited to see this adaptation. The only problem was that the orchestra overwhelmed the singers and you couldn’t understand the words of the songs. In addition I had a hard time understanding the actors because they were women whose voices are in a higher range than men’s voices. The sound people needed to adjust levels so that the people could be heard and understood.

R.O. from Chicago, Illinois

HUGE LEFT-WING POLITICAL STATEMENT.

The point of this production was to apologize to the Native and African Americans for injustices of the past. There's a time and a place and when you're paying this much for tickets to see a show that you really loved as a kid, it pisses you off. Singing was really good though.

Gloria Bobcat from Chicago, Illinois

AWFUL - DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR HARD-EARNED MONEY

I only gave 1775 2 stars because the performers were talented. But combine a boring script with a horrible adaptation that leaves you falling asleep for two hours, and you are in for an excruciating painful evening. The backdrop keeps track of the calendar as the show moves closer to July 4, and every time it changed, everybody around me groaned because it was moving so slowly. Everybody was in a hurry to get to July 4th and get out of dodge. Also, the show neglects the beautiful occasion that American independence, flawed or not, represented for the future of humanity. Some purple-haired junior high social studies teacher from the D list definitely influenced the adaptation.

Margaret O'Banion from Des Moines, Iowa

1776

Very disappointing having seen the original at least 3 times. Did not enjoy having a revamp of the show having an all female cast. It didn’t work at all for me. Enjoyed the original script and characterizations far more. Having an all female cast took away from the production. It took much of the historical accuracy out of the show. As the saying goes, LIf it ain’ broke don’t fix it.” The write up in the program sound like the focus of the show as meant to be a political statement rather than actress’s being true to the original script. I don’t need to know the gender or sexual background’s. Just hire good, talented actors/actress. The audience doesn’t need to be told the casting rationale. Since I found it not nearly as entertaining as the original and I was disappointed in the show I left at intermission.

Julie Kenney from Los Angeles, California

SHOW WAS OVER-AMPED AND OVER-ACTED

While I appreciated the gorgeous singing voices the over-acting was really cringey. Some of the numbers (He Plays the Violin especially) were so over-the-top and not in a good way. These women can belt and that’s great but there were many scenes where some restraint, and taking it down a notch, would have added so much more poignancy and complexity. Overall I found it too long, too loud, and too much.

Honey from Los Angeles, California

1776

The woke philosophy did nothing to improve this theatrical production. The “nouveau” casting was actually disconcerting and tedious. A piece of musical revisionist history that should not have been revived. The singers are talented, but can’t remember one song. Not worth the time or money.

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