Directors’ Welcome
From Diane Paulus
A.R.T. Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director
Co-Director, 1776
WELCOME TO 1776!
When 1776 was first suggested to me, I only knew it as the show that beat out HAIR at the 1969 Tony Awards for Best Musical. But as soon as I read the script, I understood that this musical could speak powerfully and directly to our lives today. In dramatizing the events surrounding the writing of the Declaration of Independence, 1776 points to the contradictions built into our nation’s founding—the ideals of equality and liberty celebrated and heralded in a document that achieved unanimous endorsement only after the anti-slavery clause in Jefferson’s original draft was edited out.
The reason why I do theater is to ask big questions. One of A.R.T.’s core values is inquiry, and working on this production has catalyzed a journey of learning and growth. In our creative process, we asked: How can we hold history as a predicament versus an affirming myth? How does an honest reckoning with our past help us move forward together? I hope these questions will be alive for you as you experience our production. These questions also resonate deeply with Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery, the landmark report which the university recently released to the public.
This project has centered collaboration with Co-Director and Choreographer Jeffrey L. Page and Associate Director Brisa Areli Muñoz. With the support of the estates of Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone, this production features an extraordinary cast of performers who reflect multiple representations of race, ethnicity, and gender, and who identify as female, trans, and non-binary. We invite you, the audience, to hold multiple realities at the same time: both this historical narrative and the identities of this company of artists alive in 2022. In this process, we hope that you will see the events that took place in Independence Hall in new ways.
As the professional theater company at Harvard University, the A.R.T. has the unique opportunity to collaborate with scholars and students as part of our research and development. I urge you to explore this digital program, which highlights our interactions with Harvard faculty, including Annette Gordon-Reed, whose remarkable scholarship on the Hemings family of Monticello influenced this production. You can also learn how our show includes, for the first time, the text of a letter written by Abigail Adams in March 1776, in which she urged her husband, John, to “Remember the Ladies” in the creation of a new American government. The educational mission of this production has been at the core of our journey, and has extended to our programs Declaration Reclamation and We Declare Boston, which invites local students to connect their own lives to the long sweep of history, grapple with its inherent contradictions, and advocate for the society in which they wish to live. Lastly, I encourage you to visit the We the People mural just off of our lobby, created through a collaboration with Artists for Humanity.
We have been waiting for two years to bring this production to our stage. As we finally welcome you to 1776, I am overwhelmed with gratitude—to all the artists and A.R.T. staff who have persevered through this difficult time, and to you, our audience and our community, who have endured this long journey with us. Thank you for joining us.
Diane
From Jeffrey L. Page
Co-Director and Choreographer, 1776
We often think of words, and of history, as finite and immovable things. Working on 1776, however, I’ve been reminded that there is an innate flexibility in our understanding of the past: the words and symbols of our cultural memory take on very different meanings through the act of reframing. Think, for example, of the portraits of the so-called founding fathers. Often, these paintings feature only one face—or a collection of very similar faces. But when we shift the gaze, even just a little bit, the picture changes.
When we look beyond the traditional limits of our foundational myths, we find other faces, other voices, other perspectives on what this country means. In this production, I’m interested in asking “Who gets to tell the story? Who gets the privilege of embodying cultural memory?” When we ask these questions, the familiar can become strange—we can blur the lines between the occluded and the included. We can illuminate new dimensions of our national story. After all, just outside the frame, we know that the lives of these “great men” intersected with, depended upon, and severely limited the lives of many others. The systems of power that brought these men to national prominence had international implications that continue to this day.
As a director and a choreographer, I’m interested in a tonal and gestural repositioning of the past. History is communicated not only in text and oral tradition, but in the body itself. Often, the body necessitates a reframing of the written word. We know this instinctually, through the recent years’ dependence on Zoom and FaceTime—a message sent to a friend changes dramatically based on the tone of voice, the face, the body’s position. Written text or even spoken words can’t seem to manifest fully without human representation.
A musical can make us laugh while also prompting reflections that provoke change. I am interested in examining how gesture, choreography, and physical action can come together to reveal the ineffable. The body can be a source of alternative narratives and clandestine signifiers. I’m curious about the idea of doubles—how can the oppressed and the erased start to rhyme with the “propertied” and powerful? I know that choreography is larger than the catchy two-step in the background; I believe that the human body is a carrier of significant information.
I am writing this note just a few days after a man with a camera strapped to his head and an XM-15 semi-automatic assault rifle gripped in his arms went on a shooting rampage in Buffalo, New York, the barrel of his gun inscribed with anti-Black racist slurs. The shooter killed 10 Black people. New York Magazine called this atrocity “American Exceptionalism.” I can’t help but think about the fact that this musical opened in 1969, in the midst of the Civil Rights Era—and for me, this musical highlights that “1776” means very different things to different people. I hope that all of us will keep our gaze trained on the bandaged place. “Don’t turn away,” as Rumi once said: “that is where the light enters.”
Thanks so much for taking this journey with us.
Jeffrey
American Repertory Theater and Roundabout Theatre Company
Present
1776
Creative Team
Music and Lyrics by
Sherman Edwards
Music and Lyrics by
Sherman Edwards
Sherman Edwards was born in New York and taught American history at James Monroe High School. After earning an undergraduate degree in history at New York University, he later did graduate work in history at Cornell University. He appeared as an actor in My Sister Eileen and the Broadway revue Pins and Needles. He began working as a pianist, playing for performers Lisa Kirk, Eddie Fisher, and Mindy Carson. Later, he played in the bands of Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Louis Armstrong. In the late 1950s, he began writing popular music, including the hit songs “Broken-Hearted Melody” (lyrics by Hal David), “See You in September” (music and lyrics co-written by Sid Wayne) and “Wonderful, Wonderful” (lyrics by Ben Raleigh). 1776 (for which he won a 1969 Tony Award) was his only Broadway score.
Book by
Peter Stone
Book by
Peter Stone
Peter Stone: One of the most accomplished Broadway bookwriters, Stone graduated from Bard College and earned an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. He began writing for CBS Radio and soon moved to writing for television, including the shows “Studio One,” “The Defenders” (for which he won an Emmy Award), “Asphalt Jungle,” and “Espionage.” He has written the plays Friend of the Family and Full Circle. In addition to 1776, his Broadway bookwriting credits include the musicals Kean; Skyscraper; Two by Two; Sugar; Woman of the Year (for which he won a 1981 Tony Award); My One and Only; Grand Hotel and The Will Rogers Follies (1991 Tony Award for Best Musical). Stone also wrote the screenplay for the film version of 1776. His other screenplays include Charade; Father Goose (for which he won a 1964 Academy Award); Mirage; Arabesque; Sweet Charity; The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 and Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?
Based on a concept by
Sherman Edwards
Based on a concept by
Sherman Edwards
Sherman Edwards was born in New York and taught American history at James Monroe High School. After earning an undergraduate degree in history at New York University, he later did graduate work in history at Cornell University. He appeared as an actor in My Sister Eileen and the Broadway revue Pins and Needles. He began working as a pianist, playing for performers Lisa Kirk, Eddie Fisher, and Mindy Carson. Later, he played in the bands of Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Louis Armstrong. In the late 1950s, he began writing popular music, including the hit songs “Broken-Hearted Melody” (lyrics by Hal David), “See You in September” (music and lyrics co-written by Sid Wayne) and “Wonderful, Wonderful” (lyrics by Ben Raleigh). 1776 (for which he won a 1969 Tony Award) was his only Broadway score.
Directed by
Jeffrey L. Page
(he/him) A.R.T.: Debut. An Emmy Award-nominated director and choreographer, Jeffrey Page spearheaded the 2015 and 2018 Tokyo productions of the musical Memphis, which received four Yomiuri Award nominations, including Best Musical. The first African American to be named the Marcus Institute Fellow for Opera Directing at The Juilliard School, Mr. Page won an MTV Video Music Award for his work with Beyoncé, whose creative team has included him for more than 12 years. His work was featured on Beyoncé’s “Formation” World Tour, in her historic Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival performance, and in two of her HBO specials. Mr. Page was the associate creative director for Mariah Carey’s “Sweet, Sweet Fantasy” European Tour, and has been a featured choreographer on Fox Television’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” He currently is the creative director for singer-songwriter Jazmine Sullivan, most recently working with her on the 2020 BET Soul Train Music Awards. Mr. Page was in the original, award-winning Broadway cast of Fela!. He worked alongside Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori to choreograph the hit Broadway musical Violet starring Sutton Foster (Roundabout Theatre Company).
Directed by
Diane Paulus
(she/her) Diane Paulus is the Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. A.R.T.: 1776, WILD: A Musical Becoming, Gloria: A Life, Jagged Little Pill, ExtraOrdinary, The White Card, In the Body of the World, Waitress (film available online, French-language production in Quebec summer 2024), Crossing, Finding Neverland, Witness Uganda, Pippin (Tony Award, Best Revival and Best Director), The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Tony Award, Best Revival; NAACP Award, Best Direction), Prometheus Bound, Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera, Best of Both Worlds, The Donkey Show. Other work includes Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna, Invisible Thread at Second Stage, and the Public Theater’s Tony Award-winning revival of HAIR on Broadway and London’s West End. As an opera director, her credits include The Magic Flute, the complete Monteverdi cycle, and the trio of Mozart-Da Ponte operas, as well as the upcoming Carmen (2024 Glydenbourne Festival). Paulus is Professor of the Practice of Theater in Harvard University’s English Department and Department of Theater, Dance & Media. She was selected for Boston magazine’s 2023, 2022, 2020, and 2018 lists of Boston’s most influential people, the 2014 Time 100, Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and as one of Variety’s “Trailblazing Women in Entertainment for 2014.”
Choreography
Jeffrey L. Page
Choreography
Jeffrey L. Page
(he/him) A.R.T.: Debut. An Emmy Award-nominated director and choreographer, Jeffrey Page spearheaded the 2015 and 2018 Tokyo productions of the musical Memphis, which received four Yomiuri Award nominations, including Best Musical. The first African American to be named the Marcus Institute Fellow for Opera Directing at The Juilliard School, Mr. Page won an MTV Video Music Award for his work with Beyoncé, whose creative team has included him for more than 12 years. His work was featured on Beyoncé’s “Formation” World Tour, in her historic Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival performance, and in two of her HBO specials. Mr. Page was the associate creative director for Mariah Carey’s “Sweet, Sweet Fantasy” European Tour, and has been a featured choreographer on Fox Television’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” He currently is the creative director for singer-songwriter Jazmine Sullivan, most recently working with her on the 2020 BET Soul Train Music Awards. Mr. Page was in the original, award-winning Broadway cast of Fela!. He worked alongside Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori to choreograph the hit Broadway musical Violet starring Sutton Foster (Roundabout Theatre Company).
Music Supervisor
David Chase
Music Supervisor
David Chase
A.R.T/Loeb.: Finding Neverland; Candide (Maximilian, HRDC, 1985). David has been Music Director, Supervisor and/or Arranger for forty Broadway productions. He’s written extensively for the Boston Pops and Tanglewood Festival Chorus (including their signature Twelve Days of Christmas), The Kennedy Center Honors, Radio City Music Hall, EssentialVoicesUSA (including the choral cycle Washington Women), and TV’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Music Director and Arranger for Apple TV’s Schmigadoon! and NBC’sThe Sound of Music and Peter Pan Live! (Emmy nominations for both). Grammy and Olivier nominee. Choral works published by Hal Leonard. David lives in New York City with his wife, actress and Drama Desk nominee Paula Leggett Chase, and their two sons, Kyler and Dashiell. Musical training: Harvard biology degree.
Orchestrations
John Clancy
Orchestrations
John Clancy
(he/him) A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Diana, Mean Girls (Tony nomination), Fun Home (Tony/Drama Desk nominations), The Prom, Tuck Everlasting, Shrek the Musical (Tony/Drama Desk nominations), Cats 2016 (Dance Arrangements). Off Broadway/Regional: The Secret Life of Bees, Kimberly Akimbo, Gun & Powder, Becoming Nancy, Soft Power (Dance Arrangements), Fortress of Solitude, Jasper in Deadland, Just So. Rihanna: NBA All-Star Game (String Arrangements). 2018 Tony Awards Opening by Sara Bareilles.
Vocal Design
AnnMarie Milazzo
Vocal Design
AnnMarie Milazzo
A.R.T.: Finding Neverland, Prometheus Bound. Broadway (Vocal Designer): Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, If/Then, Finding Neverland. Off-Broadway: Carrie, Bright Lights Big City, Superhero; (Orchestrator, with Michael Starobin): Once on this Island (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations). Regional: Dangerous Beauty, Some Lovers, Dave, A Walk on the Moon, Almost Famous. Other credits include The Radio City Rockettes’ Summer Spectacular 2016 (co-arranger/lyricist, co-composer); Cirque du Soleil’s Le Rêve and La Perle. Film: Pretty Dead Girl (Composer and Lyricist; Special Jury Award, Sundance Film Festival). Milazzo is the Grammy-nominated female vocalist for East Village Opera Company on Decca/Universal Records.
Music Director
Ryan Cantwell
Music Director
Ryan Cantwell
A.R.T.: Debut. Recent credits include Waitress (Japanese Premiere), Pippin (Australian Premiere), Bat Out of Hell (NY City Center), Pippin (Japanese Premiere). First National Tours: Waitress, Finding Neverland, Pippin, La Cage Aux Folles. Off-Broadway: The Golden Toad, Mark, The Nomad (Liz Swados), La MaMa. TV/film: CBS’ “Jim Hensen Special,” “Race” (Gloria Allred). MD/Composer: A Helluva Life (George Hamilton). Ryan also writes/performs with his sister, Dawn (Wicked, Last Ship, Dogfight). Awards: ASCAP’s Singer-Songwriter Grant (05’ & 06’), Robert Preston Award for Musical Theatre Excellence. A big shout out to his wife, Shoshana and newborn, Faye, I love you.
Scenic Design
Scott Pask
Scenic Design
Scott Pask
(he/him) Scott Pask has designed over 50 Broadway productions, receiving three Tony Awards for The Book of Mormon, The Coast of Utopia, and The Pillowman. Recently: American Buffalo (2022 Tony nomination), Mr. Saturday Night, The Prom, The Band’s Visit (Tony nomination), Mean Girls (Tony nomination). His work with Diane Paulus includes The Donkey Show, A.R.T.; Johnny Baseball, A.R.T.; Pippin (Tony nomination), A.R.T., Broadway, US Tour, Japan; HAIR, The Public Theater, Broadway, US Tour, West End; Finding Neverland, A.R.T., Broadway; Waitress, A.R.T., Broadway, US Tour, West End; and Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna.
Costume Design
Emilio Sosa
Costume Design
Emilio Sosa
A.R.T.: 1776, ExtraOrdinary, The White Card, Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3), O.P.C., Witness Uganda, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Best of Both Worlds. Chair, American Theatre Wing. Broadway credits include: Purlie Victorious (Tony nomination), Good Night Oscar (Tony nomination), Ain’t No Mo’ (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award), Trouble in Mind (Tony nomination), The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Tony nomination), Sweeney Todd, 1776, A Beautiful Noise, Skeleton Crew, On Your Feet, Motown the Musical, Topdog/Underdog. TV/Film: Descendants: The Rise of Red, Disney+; The Great Lillian Hall, HBO; Annie Live!, NBC.
Lighting Design
Jen Schriever
Lighting Design
Jen Schriever
A.R.T: 1776, Fingersmith, In the Body of the World. Broadway: Mother Play, A Strange Loop (Tony Award nomination), Death of a Salesman (Tony Award nomination), 1776, Birthday Candles, Lackawanna Blues, What the Constitution Means to Me, Lifespan of a Fact, Eclipsed, Ghetto Klown. Regional: A Strange Loop, ACT and CTG; The Preacher’s Wife, Alliance; The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical, ACT; A Transparent Musical, CTG. Opera: A Thousand Splendid Suns, Seattle Opera; Die Fledermaus, Pearl Fishers, Metropolitan; Faust, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La Traviata, Mariinsky. Obie Award for sustained excellence in design. Teaching: Adjunct Professor, Purchase College.
Sound Design
Jonathan Deans
Sound Design
Jonathan Deans
(he/him) A.R.T.: ExtraOrdinary, Jagged Little Pill, Waitress, Finding Neverland, Witness Uganda, The Heart of Robin Hood. Broadway: Jagged Little Pill (Tony nomination); Waitress, NYC and UK; Finding Neverland; Pippin (Tony nomination); La Cage aux Folles (Tony and Drama Desk nominations). Other recent credits: Bhangin It, La Jolla Playhouse; Anything Goes, Barbican and Tour; Lune Rouge, PY1; The Tempest; Red Velvet; Invisible Thread; Young Frankenstein; Pirate Queen; Carrie (Drama Desk nomination); Parade (Drama Desk nomination); Fosse, NYC, UK; Ragtime. Jonathan has designed fifteen Cirque du Soleil productions including Drawn to Life, MJ ONE, LOVE, KA, O, Mystère, Ovo, Corteo, and more. Operas include a residency at the Royal Opera House and the LA Opera. designingsound.com
Projection Design
David Bengali
Projection Design
David Bengali
A.R.T.: 1776, We Live In Cairo. Off-Broadway: Twilight, Los Angeles: 1992 (Drama Desk nomination), Signature; The Visitor (Lortel nomination), Public Theater; Einstein’s Dreams (Drama Desk nomination), 59E59/Prospect Theater Co.; The Great Leap, Atlantic. Regional: Bhangin’ It, La Jolla Playhouse; Here There Are Blueberries, La Jolla Playhouse/Tectonic Theater Project; Bollywood Kitchen, Geffen Playhouse; Frankenstein, Dallas Theater Center; Girls, Yale Rep; The Temple Bombing, Alliance Theatre. Streaming: Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical; Seaview (Drama League nomination); Circle Jerk (Drama League nomination), Fake Friends; Rockin’ Road To Dublin, National Tour. Education/Training: MFA: NYU.
Hair and Wig Design
Mia Neal
Hair and Wig Design
Mia Neal
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. 2021 Academy Award for Best Hair/Makeup, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Broadway: West Side Story (2020), The Iceman Cometh, Shuffle Along (Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Hair and Wig Design), A Raisin in the Sun. Off-Broadway: Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare in the Park; By the Way Meet Vera Stark, Signature; Carmen Jones, Classic Stage Company. Numerous film and television credits. Education: Jackson State University and Juilliard Professional Internship program for wig and makeup.
Casting Director
Stephen Kopel, CSA
Casting Director
Stephen Kopel, CSA
A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo; Jagged Little Pill; The White Card; Trans Scripts, Part 1: The Women; Witness Uganda; O.P.C.; The Glass Menagerie; Once; Ajax; The Blue Flower; Johnny Baseball; Best of Both Worlds. Casting director for Roundabout Theatre Company. Broadway: Caroline, or Change; Trouble in Mind; Moulin Rouge; Jagged Little Pill; Kiss Me Kate; The Play That Goes Wrong; Beautiful: the Carole King Musical; Sunday in the Park with George; Amélie; Violet; Winslow Boy; The Glass Menagerie; Mystery of Edwin Drood; Harvey; Don’t Dress for Dinner; Once; Road to Mecca; On A Clear Day…; Anything Goes; Brief Encounter; Scottsboro Boys; Sondheim On Sondheim; Hedda Gabler.
Supervising Producer
Tamar Climan
Supervising Producer
Tamar Climan
(she/her) Tamar Climan is a Tony Award®-winning producer, currently developing new theatrical works and is Advisor to Roundabout Theatre Company. As a founder of Richards/Climan, Inc. (RCI), she managed 80+ plays and musicals, including several productions that started at A.R.T.: The Glass Menagerie, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, All The Way. Producing credits include: Children of A Lesser God (Broadway), Oklahoma! (Broadway, Tour), Jagged Little Pill (Broadway, Australia, Tour, West End) and A Soldier’s Play (Upcoming Tour).
Associate Director
Brisa Areli Muñoz
Associate Director
Brisa Areli Muñoz
(she/her) A.R.T.: Amal Walks Across America, 1776. Artistic Director of Musical Theatre Factory and Artistic Director of One Nation/
Production Stage Manager
Alfredo Macias
Production Stage Manager
Alfredo Macias
(he/him) A.R.T.: Evita, 1776, SIX, Endlings, Arrabal. Broadway: Bad Cinderella, 1776, Trouble in Mind, The Play That Goes Wrong. Off-Broadway: On Sugarland, Endlings, An Ordinary Muslim, NYTW; The Winter’s Tale, The Odyssey, Twelfth Night, Public Theater; F*cking A, Fires in the Mirror, Signature Theatre; The Way She Spoke, Audible Theatre; Nice Fish, St. Ann’s Warehouse. Regional: Born For This, ArtsEmerson; Miss You Like Hell, La Jolla Playhouse, Evita (STC).
Actors’ Equity Association member
Production support of 1776 is provided by Katie and Paul Buttenwieser, The Linda Hammett Ory & Andrew Ory Charitable Trust, Allison Johnson, and Serena and Bill Lese.
Support for 1776 education and engagement programming is provided by the Ford Foundation.
Additional production support is provided by Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine, Janet and Irv Plotkin, Professor Mark V. Tushnet, and National Endowment for the Arts.
Additional education and engagement support is provided by Bank of America, Fresh Sound Foundation, Klarman Family Foundation, and Mass Humanities.
Media Support is provided by WBUR.
Production support of the run of 1776 at Roundabout Theatre Company is provided by Elizabeth Armstrong.
First performance at the Loeb Drama Center on May 17, 2022.
Original Production directed by Peter Hunt
Originally Produced on the Broadway Stage by Stuart Ostrow.
1776 is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. mtishows.com
A.R.T. has been inspired by the scholarship of the following Harvard faculty members, who contributed to the creative process through a range of presentations and conversations: Danielle Allen, Vincent Brown, Annette Gordon-Reed, Jane Kamensky, Jill Lepore, Timothy Patrick McCarthy, David Moss, John Stauffer, and Mark V. Tushnet. |
Runtime: Two hours and forty-five minutes, including one fifteen-minute intermission.
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.
Any video and/or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.
Company
Cast (in Order of Appearance)
John Adams (MA)
Crystal Lucas-Perry
John Adams (MA)
Crystal Lucas-Perry
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Off-Broadway: A Bright Room Called Day (Zillah; Antonyo Award nomination), Ain’t No Mo’ (Passenger 5, Lucille Lortel Award), The Public Theater; Bull in a China Shop (Felicity), Lincoln Center Theater; Little Children Dream of God (Madison), Roundabout Theater. Regional: The Taming of the Shrew (Petruchio), Chicago Shakespeare Theater; A Sign of the Times (Tanya), Delaware Theatre Company. TV: “Law and Order: SVU” (Aneeka Coleman), “The Last O.G.” (T’era). Film: Goodnight Mommy (Sandy Liddell), Amazon Studios; Frank and Azalee Austin (Azalee, Craft Acting Award). Education: MFA, Tisch Graduate Acting, New York University; BFA, Acting, Western Michigan University.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Robert Livingston (NY)
Gisela Adisa
Robert Livingston (NY)
Gisela Adisa
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Beautiful (Lucille), Sondheim. Regional: Shoebox Picnic (Odette), Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Lights Out (Eartha Kitt; Best Actress Nominations, Ovation and Barrymore), Geffen Playhouse and People’s Light; Man of La Mancha (Aldonza, Best Actress Nomination, CT Critics Circle), Westport Country Playhouse; Once on This Island (Erzulie), Actors Theatre of Louisville. TV/Film: “Nanny” (Sundance Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic); “FBI,” “Raising Kanan,” “Jigsaw,” “Pretty Little Liars,” ”Younger,” “Ridley Jones.” Education: BA, Drama, African Studies, Fordham.
Actors’ Equity Association member
George Read (DE)
Nancy Anderson
George Read (DE)
Nancy Anderson
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Sunset Boulevard (u/s Glenn Close), Wonderful Town, A Class Act. London: Kiss Me, Kate (Olivier Nomination). Tours: Kiss Me, Kate (Hayes Nomination), Doctor Dolittle. Off-Broadway: Lily Dare, Primary Stages; Yank!, York Theater; Fanny Hill (Drama Desk Nomination), Jolson & Co. (Drama Desk Nomination). Television: “The Gilded Age,” “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Other Two,” “Madam Secretary,” Kiss Me Kate CD: Ten Cents A Dance. Nancy is from Needham, MA.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Col. Thomas McKean (DE)
Becca Ayers
Col. Thomas McKean (DE)
Becca Ayers
(they/she) A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: South Pacific, My Fair Lady, revivals at Lincoln Center; Addams Family, Avenue Q, Les Misérables (first revival original cast). Off-Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen, Dogfight, Giant, Sarah, Plain and Tall. They have songs on all streaming platforms under their name (Becca Ayers) and with their band, baby goes bang. BeccaAyers.com
Actors’ Equity Association member
Andrew McNair (Congressional Custodian)
Tiffani Barbour
Andrew McNair (Congressional Custodian)
Tiffani Barbour
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Tiffani Barbour is thrilled to be making history with this production of 1776. As a Baltimore native, she got her start at the Arena Players Inc. and continued her training at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Theater credits include: Mamma Mia!, North Shore Music Theater; How to Catch Creation, Baltimore Center Stage/Philadelphia Theater Company; Hit the Wall, Barrow Street Theater. TV/Film: “The Leftovers,” Rabbit, Law and Order. tiffanibarbour.com
Actors’ Equity Association member
Stephen Hopkins (RI)
Allison Briner Dardenne
Stephen Hopkins (RI)
Allison Briner Dardenne
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Bright Star, Mamma Mia! National tours: Bright Star, Mamma Mia!, Follies, Titanic, White Christmas, Les Misérables. Off-Broadway: Listen To My Heart, Return To The Forbidden Planet, Jacques Brel…, Forbidden Broadway and Hollywood, Southern Comfort, Song Of Singapore. Regional: Into The Breeches (Celeste); Steel Magnolias (M’Lynn); Ring Of Fire (June), Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Regional credits include: Berkshire Theatre Festival, PaperMill Playhouse, The Old Globe, Actors Theatre Of Louisville, The Cape Playhouse, Westport Country Playhouse, Syracuse Stage. Concerts: Featured soloist in Indianapolis Symphony’s North American tour of Pops Goes Vegas. Television: “The Carrie Diaries,” “Law and Order: SVU,” “All My Children,” “One Life To Live.” Recipient of San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle award for Outstanding Supportive Performance, Female for Tinyard Hill at TheatreWorks, Palo Alto, CA.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Abigail Adams/Rev. Jonathan Witherspoon (NJ)
Allyson Kaye Daniel
Abigail Adams/Rev. Jonathan Witherspoon (NJ)
Allyson Kaye Daniel
(she/her) A.R.T.: Allyson Kaye Daniel is originally from Washington, DC, where her love for music and theatre blossomed at the prestigious Duke Ellington School of the Arts. She attended Penn State, where she received her BFA in Musical Theatre. Allyson has worked all over the country at regional theatres, in TV/Film, taught elementary through high school music, and performed on several cruise lines and in New York City. She is very pleased to be living the life she’s always wanted!
Actors’ Equity Association member
Thomas Jefferson (VA)
Elizabeth A. Davis
Thomas Jefferson (VA)
Elizabeth A. Davis
(she/her) A.R.T.: Once (Tony Award nomination), NYTW, Broadway. Select: John Doyle’s Allegro (Drama Desk nomination); Buzz, Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Indecent, Center Theatre Group, Huntington Theatre Company; My Name’s Not Indian Joe, Davenport; The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Caucasian Chalk Circle, Classic Stage Company; Zorba!, City Center; Rain, Old Globe; 39 Steps, New World Stages. TV: “Law & Order: SVU,” “New Amsterdam,” “Blue Bloods,” “The Jim Gaffigan Show,” “Taxi Brooklyn,” “Fringe.” Writing: The Apple Tree (album), Child(less) (play).
Actors’ Equity Association member
Charles Thomson (Secretary)
Mehry Eslaminia
Charles Thomson (Secretary)
Mehry Eslaminia
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Regional: Twelfth Night, Appoggiatura, A Christmas Carol, Denver Center for Performing Arts; The Corpse Washer, Actors Theatre of Louisville; You Can’t Take It With You, Noises Off, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Indiana Repertory Theatre/Syracuse Stage; Hamlet, Indianapolis Shakespeare Co; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Illinois Shakespeare Festival; The Happiest Song Plays Last, Curious Theater Co.; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Guys and Dolls, Creede Repertory Theater.
Actors’ Equity Association member
John Dickinson (PA)
Joanna Glushak
John Dickinson (PA)
Joanna Glushak
A.R.T.: Gloria: A Life. Broadway: leading roles in War Paint, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Sunday in the Park with George, Les Misérables, Hairspray, The Sweet Smell of Success, Urinetown, Rags, Conversations with My Father, Welcome to the Club, After the Night and the Music. Tour: Finding Neverland, First National. Off-Broadway: Gloria: A Life, Daryl Roth Theatre. TV: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Younger.” Education/Training: Yale School of Drama. JoannaGlushak.com
Actors’ Equity Association member
Richard Henry Lee (VA)
Shawna Hamic
Richard Henry Lee (VA)
Shawna Hamic
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: The Last Ship (Mrs. Dees). Broadway National Tours: Les Misérables (Madame Thénardier), Kinky Boots (Trish). Off-Broadway: Miss You Like Hell, The Public Theater. Regional: My Paris, Goodspeed; Hello Dolly, Sacramento Music Circus; Twist, Alliance Theater. TV: “Orange is the New Black” (C.O. Ginger), “The Time Traveler’s Wife” (Isabelle), “Halston” (Pat Ast), “Russian Doll” (Nurse Reba), “New Amsterdam” (Inmate Charly Yarborough). Film: BRUISED (Directed by Halle Berry).
Actors’ Equity Association member
Martha Jefferson/Dr. Lyman Hall (GA)
Eryn LeCroy
Martha Jefferson/Dr. Lyman Hall (GA)
Eryn LeCroy
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Eryn LeCroy was most recently seen on Broadway as Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera. National Tour: Jekyll and Hyde (Emma Carew). Off-Broadway: Sweeney Todd (Joanna), Barrow Street Theatre; Assassins, City Center Encores!. International: Sousatzka (world premiere, Young Sousatzka). Regional: Brigadoon (Pittsburgh CLO, Fiona). Eryn is a National YoungArts Foundation alumna and Presser Scholar. Education/Training: BM, Oklahoma City University. erynlecroy.com, Instagram: @erynlecroy.
Actors’ Equity Association member
John Hancock (President, Congress)
Liz Mikel
John Hancock (President, Congress)
Liz Mikel
(she/her) A.R.T.: O.P.C. Broadway: Lysistrata Jones (Hetaira). Off-Broadway: Lysistrata Jones, Transport Group; Fruit Trilogy, Abingdon Theatre. Regional: V to the Tenth (The Vagina Monologues), Louisiana Superdome; Spring Awakening, Theatre Under The Stars; Seussical, Hairspray, All Shook Up!, MUNY Theatre; Little Women (Marmie), Old Globe Theatre. International: Blind Lemon Blues, Forum Meyrin (Switzerland), Maison des Cultures du Monde (Paris, France). Resident Company Member, Dallas Theater Center. TV/Film: “Friday Night Lights” (Corrina Williams), Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, Get On Up!, Miss Juneteenth. Ten Chimneys Lunt Fontanne Fellow.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Benjamin Franklin (PA)
Patrena Murray
Benjamin Franklin (PA)
Patrena Murray
(she/her) A.R.T.: Gloria: A Life, Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3). Other credits: Lemon Girls, La MaMa; Gloria: A Life, McCarter Theatre Center, Daryl Roth Theater; Men on Boats, Baltimore Center Stage; The Oresteia, Shakespeare Theatre Company; Masculinity Max, The Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Public Theater; Venus, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, Signature Theatre; Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1,2 & 3), Mark Taper Forum. Film/TV: “New Amsterdam,” Daddy, ” The Sopranos,” “Law & Order.”
Actors’ Equity Association member
Joseph Hewes (NC)
Oneika Phillips
Joseph Hewes (NC)
Oneika Phillips
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: FELA! (Production: Tony Award, Drama Desk nomination), Eugene O’Neill Theatre; Spongebob Squarepants (Production: Tony Award), Palace Theatre; Amazing Grace: The Musical, Nederlander Theatre; Violet (Asst. to Choreographer), American Airlines Theatre. West End: FELA!; West Side Story (Anita), Sadler’s Wells. Off-Broadway: Black No More, Signature/The New Group. Tours: FELA! First and Second National, International; West Side Story (Anita), International. Dance: Forces of Nature Dance Theatre.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Samuel Chase (MD)
Lulu Picart
Samuel Chase (MD)
Lulu Picart
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. National Tour: Rodger+Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Off-Broadway: Disenchanted (Lortel nomination). Regional: Man of La Mancha, Westport Country Playhouse; Man of La Mancha, freeFall Theatre; 9 to 5, North Carolina Theatre; Wit, American Stage; Finding Nemo: the Musical, Walt Disney World. TV/Film: Going in Style, Frozen Blu-Ray, “Welcome to Flatch.” Creative consultant: The Choir of Man, Norwegian Creative Studios, Walt Disney World. Podcast host: The Daily Happy, 10K Dollar Day. Education: BA, Political Science, Stetson University; MBA (Leadership Studies), University of South Florida.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Edward Rutledge (SC)
Sara Porkalob
Edward Rutledge (SC)
Sara Porkalob
(she/they) A.R.T.: Dragon Mama (2019 Elliot Norton Awards for Best Original Script, Best Solo Performance); Dragon Lady. Sara Porkalob is an award-winning artist-activist, cultural worker, and creator of the Dragon Cycle, a trilogy of matrilineal musicals about her Filipino American gangster family, with one play for each generation built around a central female protagonist. Dragon Lady premiered at Intiman Theatre and was the recipient of three 2018 Gregory Awards (Outstanding Sound/Music Design, Outstanding Actress in a Musical, Outstanding Musical Production). Dragon Mama premiered at the A.R.T., which has commissioned the third play, Dragon Baby. saraporkalob.com, @sporkalob.
James Wilson (PA)
Sushma Saha
James Wilson (PA)
Sushma Saha
(pronoun inclusive) A.R.T.: Debut. Off-Broadway: Interstate, Theatre Row. Regional: 7 Minutes (English-language premiere), Waterwell; Girlfriend, The Drama Leage DirectorFest; Interstate, Mixed Blood Theatre (world premiere), development at MCC, NYSAF, NAMT, DGF Fellows Festival, Pride Plays, Playwrights Horizons; The Wolves, Actors Theatre of Louisville. Sushma is a queer South Asian-American artist who graduated with a BFA in musical theatre from Ithaca College. They won “Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role” at NYMF 2018. Instagram: @sushmasahahaha
Roger Sherman (CT)
Brooke Simpson
Roger Sherman (CT)
Brooke Simpson
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Brooke Simpson is a powerhouse vocalist who is passionate about music, people, and her culture. Brooke is full-blooded Native American and is a member of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe. Brooke has had the opportunity to work with artists including Miley Cyrus, Sia, Bishop Briggs, and more. She was a top three finalist on NBC’s “The Voice” and even more recently was a top four finalist on “America’s Got Talent!” Brooke has released multiple singles including “Little Bit Crazy,” “Stick Like Honey,” and her newest release, “Haliwa.”
Courier
Salome B. Smith
Courier
Salome B. Smith
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Salome is originally from Birmingham, AL. Salome studied theater at Alabama State University, where she received a BFA and also studied Musical Theater at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she received her MFA. She was last seen in the Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors and is so excited to be making her A.R.T. debut in the revival of 1776!
Actors’ Equity Association member
Dr. Josiah Bartlett (NH)
Sav Souza
Dr. Josiah Bartlett (NH)
Sav Souza
(they/them) A.R.T.: Debut. Regional: Other World, Delaware Theatre Company; Lempicka, Williamstown Theatre Festival; The Elementary Spacetime Show, Playwrights Downtown; Falsettos, 11th Hour Theatre Company. Concerts: We Start In Manhattan: A New Queer Musical, The Green Room 42. Education: BFA, Musical Theatre, University of the Arts. Sav is also a musical theatre writer & lyricist, passionate about lifting up queer and trans stories. They are currently developing We Start In Manhattan: A New Queer Musical with their writing (and life) partner, Ariella Serur. Social media: @saaaavv
Actors’ Equity Association member
Caesar Rodney (DE)
Jill Vallery
Caesar Rodney (DE)
Jill Vallery
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Fela! (Dance Captain, Astaire Award, ACCA Actor Equity Award), Eugene O’Neill. Off-Broadway: Fela! A New Musical, 37 Arts; Cullud Wattah (Movement Director), The Public Theater; And My Name Ain’t Peaches, Theatre Outlet. TV/Film: “She’s Gotta Have It” (Jubilee Jones); Lifted (Lead Dancer). Education/Training: The Ailey School.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Standby
Ariella Serur
Standby
Ariella Serur
(she/they) A.R.T.: Debut. Regional: RENT, Redhouse Arts Center; Grand Concourse, Theatre Horizon; Gypsy, Hangar Theatre. Workshops: Queer Baby Jesus, Dixon Place; War Of The Worlds, The Rev Theatre Co. Concerts: We Start In Manhattan: A New Queer Musical, The Green Room 42; Drew Gasparini at Joe’s Pub, Joe’s Pub; Zack Zadek’s On We Go, Feinstein’s 54 Below. Education: Musical Theater B.F.A., Ithaca College. Ariella is also a queer dating coach, traveler, and composer currently developing We Start In Manhattan: A New Queer Musical with their partner in writing and life, Sav Souza.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Standby
Grace Stockdale
Standby
Grace Stockdale
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Grace is honored to be part of this truly extraordinary group of artists. Broadway credits include: Waitress (u/s Jenna). First National Tour (Original Companies): Kinky Boots (Nicola), Waitress (u/s Jenna, Dawn); Off-Broadway: Atomic (Mae), The Acorn Theatre; Songs For A New World (Woman 1), Radial Park. Grace is also an accomplished Photographer, and her continued work can be viewed at @songbirdstudionyc. For Nick, CGF, and the Stockdale/Anton Family.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Standby
Imani Pearl Williams
Standby
Imani Pearl Williams
(she/her) Imani is beyond excited to be making her A.R.T. debut! Tours: Pretty Woman (Swing), Pippin (Ensemble, u/s Leading Player). Select Regional: Memphis (Ensemble, u/s Felicia), Footloose (Rusty) Other: Montréal Complètement Cirque (Vocalist). Huge thank you to ATB Talent, my mom, and all the folks in my life who make me feel safe, celebrated, and loved! @imanipearlz
Actors’ Equity Association member
Standby
Rose Van Dyne
Standby
Rose Van Dyne
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Rose Van Dyne is a mixed Asian-American actor, music director, and educator who is thrilled to be making her A.R.T. performance debut! Recent credits include: Interstate (World premiere), Mixed Blood Theatre; Cambodian Rock Band, All’s Well That Ends Well, Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Spring Awakening, Argyle Theatre. Education: MFA, Boston Conservatory at Berklee (expected 2023); BA, University of Northern Colorado. Endless gratitude to all loved ones.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Standby
Sabrina K. Victor
Standby
Sabrina K. Victor
(she/her) A.R.T.: The Donkey Show; Miss You Like Hell, Company One. Sabrina K. Victor is a Haitian-American performance activist. Other regional credits include School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play, SpeakEasyStage. She is honored to rejoin the A.R.T. family! Sabrina is currently an MFA Acting Candidate at Columbia University, and holds two Bachelor’s Degrees in Theater and Journalism, and a Multicultural Theater Practice Certificate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. sabrinakvictor.com
Dance Captain
Jill Vallery
Dance Captain
Jill Vallery
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Fela! (Dance Captain, Astaire Award, ACCA Actor Equity Award), Eugene O’Neill. Off-Broadway: Fela! A New Musical, 37 Arts; Cullud Wattah (Movement Director), The Public Theater; And My Name Ain’t Peaches, Theatre Outlet. TV/Film: “She’s Gotta Have It” (Jubilee Jones); Lifted (Lead Dancer). Education/Training: The Ailey School.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Fight Captain
Grace Stockdale
Fight Captain
Grace Stockdale
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Grace is honored to be part of this truly extraordinary group of artists. Broadway credits include: Waitress (u/s Jenna). First National Tour (Original Companies): Kinky Boots (Nicola), Waitress (u/s Jenna, Dawn); Off-Broadway: Atomic (Mae), The Acorn Theatre; Songs For A New World (Woman 1), Radial Park. Grace is also an accomplished Photographer, and her continued work can be viewed at @songbirdstudionyc. For Nick, CGF, and the Stockdale/Anton Family.
Understudies
Understudies never substitute for listed players unless a specific announcement for the appearance is made at the time of the performance.
Band
Music Director/Conductor/Keyboards
Ryan Cantwell
Music Director/Conductor/Keyboards
Ryan Cantwell
A.R.T.: Debut. Recent credits include Waitress (Japanese Premiere), Pippin (Australian Premiere), Bat Out of Hell (NY City Center), Pippin (Japanese Premiere). First National Tours: Waitress, Finding Neverland, Pippin, La Cage Aux Folles. Off-Broadway: The Golden Toad, Mark, The Nomad (Liz Swados), La MaMa. TV/film: CBS’ “Jim Hensen Special,” “Race” (Gloria Allred). MD/Composer: A Helluva Life (George Hamilton). Ryan also writes/performs with his sister, Dawn (Wicked, Last Ship, Dogfight). Awards: ASCAP’s Singer-Songwriter Grant (05’ & 06’), Robert Preston Award for Musical Theatre Excellence. A big shout out to his wife, Shoshana and newborn, Faye, I love you.
Drums/Percussion
Mike Dobson
Drums/Percussion
Mike Dobson
(he/him) ART: Debut. Broadway: Spongebob Squarepants (Foley Designer/Foley Artist/Percussionist; Tony Award nomination). Off-Broadway: Unknown Soldier, Playwrights Horizons; Big Love (Assistant Director), Old Hats (Foley Designer/Foley Artist/Percussionist), Signature Theater; Room 17B (Writer/Composer/Performer; Drama Desk nomination), 59e59 Theaters; Sister’s Follies, Abrons Arts Center; The Old Comedy, Classic Stage Company. Other Performances: Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, American Composer’s Orchestra, SEM Ensemble, Paul Anka, Clay Aiken, Dawn Upshaw, Ira Sullivan. TV: “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Today Show,” “The 72nd annual Tony Awards.”
Guitar
Scotty Johnson
Guitar
Scotty Johnson
(he/him) A.R.T.: Pippin, Finding Neverland. Broadway in Boston: The Lion King, Mean Girls, Moulin Rouge, Legally Blonde, Matilda, Newsies, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Beautiful the Carole King Musical, Spamalot and others. Performances with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic, and Boston Gay Men’s Chorus. Graduate of U. of M. School of Music. Professor, Berklee College of Music.
Violin
Marissa Licata
Violin
Marissa Licata
A.R.T.: 1776; Moby-Dick; Jagged Little Pill. Broadway: A Beautiful Noise, Broadhurst Theatre; 1776, American Airlines Theatre. Off-Broadway: Christmas Spectacular, Radio City Music Hall; Assassins; Assembly. Tours: onstage featured violinist with Hip Hop Nutcracker, Jethro Tull, Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Ben Harper, Gloria Estefan, Steven Tyler, Dave Stewart (Eurythmics). Recordings: H.E.R., K. Michelle, Wyclef Jean. TV: “Shine A Light: A 9/11 Tribute,” CNN; “BET Awards;” “Good Morning America;” “The View;” “Latin Grammys.” Performances with Boston Ballet, Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas. Education: MM and BM, New England Conservatory of Music.
Cello
Thomas Barth
Cello
Thomas Barth
A.R.T.: Real Women Have Curves, Evita, 1776. Broadway: 1776. Performances with Handel and Haydn Society, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Glissando Concert Series, A Far Cry, Emmanuel Music, Boston Baroque, Skylark Vocal Ensemble, Palaver Strings, Boston Festival Orchestra, and ChamberQUEER. Frequent contributor for PARMA Recordings. Education: MM, New England Conservatory; BM, University of Michigan.
Double Bass
Kate Foss
Double Bass
Kate Foss
A.R.T.: SIX, We Live in Cairo, ExtraOrdinary, The Black Clown, Jagged Little Pill (Bass alternate). Theater: Ogunquit Playhouse, North Shore Music Theater, Lyric Stage Company, Emerson College. Orchestra Performance: Plymouth Philharmonic (principal Bass), Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Emmanuel Music, Odyssey Opera, Cape Symphony, Indian Hill Symphony Orchestra. Education: MM, Classical Performance, New England Conservatory; BS, Physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Reeds
Paul Mardy
Reeds
Paul Mardy
(he/him) A.R.T: Moby-Dick. Performances with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Civic Symphony and the College Light Opera Company. Education: Graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and State University of New York, Potsdam.
Trumpet
Andrew Sorg
Trumpet
Andrew Sorg
A.R.T.: 1776, Evita. Member: Iris Ochestra, New Bedford Symphony, Boston Philharmonic, Triton Brass Quintet. Performances with Boston Symphony, Boston Ballet, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Odyssey Opera, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Portland Symphony Orchestra. Education/
Trombone
Skye Dearborn
Trombone
Skye Dearborn
(she/her) A.R.T.: Evita, 1776, Moby-Dick. Broadway: 1776. Performances with Spoleto Festival USA, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Vermont Symphony, New Bedford Symphony, Richmond Symphony (VA), South Dakota Symphony, Audra MacDonald, “62nd Grammy Awards” with Lizzo. Education: MM, Boston University; BM, University of Michigan.
French Horn
Hazel Dean Davis
French Horn
Hazel Dean Davis
ART: Crossing (principal horn). Member, Boston Pops Esplanade, Brevard Music Center Faculty; Former Member, Virginia Symphony and Virginia Opera 2004-2015. Performances with Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, A Far Cry, Boston Ballet, Portland Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Virginia Arts Festival, Chamber Music Boston, Chameleon Arts Ensemble. Vice President, New England Musicians Relief Fund. Education: BA, Biological and Social Anthropology, Harvard University 2003, Graduate Performance Diploma, The Juilliard School 2004, Tanglewood Music Center 2002-2003, Marlboro Music 2005-2006.
Band Contractor/Violin Sub
Jason Fisher
Band Contractor/Violin Sub
Jason Fisher
A.R.T.: Evita; 1776; Moby-Dick; We Live in Cairo; Jagged Little Pill; The Black Clown; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; Crossing. Founding Member, A Far Cry; Principal Viola, Boston Baroque; period viola with Handel and Haydn Society, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, The English Concert, ACRONYM Ensemble, The Thirteen, Seattle and Portland Baroque Orchestras, Teatro Nuovo, Opera Lafayette, Relic, Sarasa Ensemble. Carnegie Hall Fellow and Peabody Singapore Fellow. Tours of Europe, Asia, Kazakhstan, and the Kyrgyz Republic. Performances with Pink Martini, Jake Shimabukuro, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming, Kiri Te Kanawa, members of the Florestan Trio, and Æolus, Brentano, Cleveland, Emerson, Mendelssohn and St. Lawrence String Quartets. Concerts at Vienna Musikverein, Singapore Esplanade, the Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall. Awards: Grammy nominee (Best Chamber Music/
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Synthesizer Programming by Billy Jay Stein and Hiro Iida for Strange Cranium Productions, Inc. Associate Synthesizer Programmers—Fuso Murase and Naoya Iwaki |
Additional Staff
Dramaturg
Robert Duffley
Dramaturg
Robert Duffley
(he/him) A.R.T.: We Live in Cairo, Endlings, O.P.C. Recent credits: Claudia Rankine’s HELP (dir. Taibi Magar), The Shed; We Hear You: A Climate Archive (National Theatre of Sweden/Georgetown University/Swedish Embassy DC); Miranda Rose Hall’s A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction (currently touring Europe with original direction by Katie Mitchell); The Uncle Geoff Magic Show, Target Margin Theatre Labs. Publications: works for Howlround, Routledge’s Contemporary Theatre Review, and Six by Eight Press. Editor & Associate Dramaturg, A.R.T.; Dramaturg, LubDub Theatre Co; Affiliated Faculty, Emerson College.
Assistant Stage Managers
Genevieve Kersh
A.R.T.: 1776, Waitress, Finding Neverland. Broadway: Shucked, 1776, Finding Neverland; Noises Off, Roundabout. Off-Broadway: Superhero (world premiere), 2nd Stage; Eve’s Song (world premiere), Runaways, Public Theater. First National Tours: 1776, Finding Neverland, Cinderella, Blithe Spirit, Sister Act, Anything Goes. Regional: Flamingo Kid (world premiere), Hartford Stage. Other noteworthy credits: Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Proud graduate of Ithaca College and Member of Actor’s Equity.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Assistant Stage Managers
John Meredith
(they/them) A.R.T: SIX (ASM & PSM sub), Waitress (Child Supervisor). Regional: Fun Home, Small Mouth Sounds, Men on Boats, SpeakEasy Stage; A Guide for the Homesick, after all the terrible things I do, Huntington Theatre Company; Wig Out!, Shockheaded Peter, We Are Proud to Present…, Company One; Camp Strangewood, Sparkhaven Theatre. John also leads trainings on transgender inclusion in the arts with Gender Explosion. Education: Stage & Production Management B.F.A., Emerson College. Learn More: johnmeredithstage.com
Assistant Choreographer
Courtney Ross
Assistant Choreographer
Courtney Ross
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Courtney Paige Ross is a professional dancer and teaching artist from New Orleans, LA. Currently, she is a performer with Camille A. Brown and Dancers. Tours: Ailey II, EVIDENCE Dance Company (Artistic Director Ronald K. Brown). She has worked and performed closely with Tank & the Bangas, Jon Batiste, Jemel McWilliams, Jeffrey Page, Ray Mercer, Darrell Moultrie, and The DynamitExperience. Other credits include Porgy & Bess, Metropolitan Opera; for Colored girls, workshop; 2021 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (NBC), Broadway Bares: Takeoff (Choreographer. Laya Barak), PowerPlay, The Shed; Beyoncé, 2016 Video Music Awards and release industrials for “The Wheel of Time” (Amazon Prime) and Samsung S8 Release (Choreographer Rich & Tone Talauega). She is a Trauma Informed Registered Yoga Teacher and certified Social Emotional Learning facilitator. She founded BLOOM Dance, Inc, a 501(c)(3) organization that aims to fortify mental/emotional health and wellness of youth, through dance and creative arts therapy programming. Education/Training: BFA, with honors, The Ailey School/Fordham University.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Assistant Director, SDCF Charles Abbott Fellow
Marina Montesanti
Assistant Director, SDCF Charles Abbott Fellow
Marina Montesanti
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. As Director: Lizzie, Madison Theatre; Dear Mr. C, University of the Arts; EXI(S)T, Town Stages; Savana Glacial, Irondale Theatre; Derecho, La Tea. As Associate Director: Um Novo Comeco, Salgado Productions; Letters to Sala, The Museum of Jewish Heritage; Monstrosity, The New School for Drama; The Only Jealousy of Emer, Torn Page. Montesanti has worked with Gibney Dance, BAM, Signature Theatre, and others. Education: BFA, Dramatic Arts, The New School for Drama.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Music Assistant
Ian Chan
Music Assistant
Ian Chan
(he/they) A.R.T.: WILD: A Musical Becoming, Jack and the Beanstalk: A Musical Adventure, Thumbelina: A Little Musical. Regional: The East Side, Central Square Theater; One Song Glory, Musical Stage Company; Home for the Holidays, Playdate Theatre. TV: “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,” Paramount+. Workshops: Shimcheong: A Folktale; The East Side. Educational: The More You Know, Cruising Altitude, Miss You ’Til Tomorrow, Into The Woods, Legally Blonde, West Side Story, Fun Home.
Dialect Coach (NYC)
Dawn-Elin Fraser
Dialect Coach (NYC)
Dawn-Elin Fraser
A.R.T.: 1776, Waitress, Crossing, Finding Neverland. North American Dialect Coach: Hamilton. Broadway: Parade, 1776, Macbeth, Slave Play, What the Constitution Means to Me, Once on this Island, Waitress. Off-Broadway: Sojourners, Her Portmanteau, An Ordinary Muslim, The House That Will Not Stand, american (tele)visions, How to Defend Yourself, NYTW; Richard III, Merry Wives, The Public Theater. MFA, American Conservatory Theater. NYTW Usual Suspect.
Dialect Coach (Cambridge)
Erika Bailey
Dialect Coach (Cambridge)
Erika Bailey
A.R.T.: Gatsby; Becoming a Man; Life of Pi; 1776; WILD: A Musical Becoming; Jack and the Beanstalk; Gloria: A Life; Moby-Dick; We Live in Cairo; Endlings; Othello; ExtraOrdinary; The Black Clown; Jagged Little Pill; WARHOLCAPOTE; Burn All Night; The Night of the Iguana; Trans Scripts, Part I: The Women; Fingersmith; In the Body of the World; Waitress; O.P.C. Broadway: Mary Stuart. Regional: Vanity Fair, Central Square Theater; New Electric Ballroom, Gloucester Stage Company; Arms and the Man, Guthrie Theatre; The Foreigner, Cabaret, To Kill a Mockingbird, Kansas City Repertory Theatre. As Head of Voice and Speech at A.R.T., Erika also teaches in the Theater, Dance & Media concentration at Harvard as well as coaching public speaking skills across the university. Education: MA, Voice Studies, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama; MFA, Acting, Brandeis University.
Fight Director
Thomas Schall
Fight Director
Thomas Schall
A.R.T.: 1776, Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2, and 3). Broadway: Over 100 shows including An Enemy of the People, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Hell’s Kitchen, Purlie Victorious, The Cost of Living, Company, A Soldier’s Play (Drama Desk Award, Fight Choreography), War Horse, Romeo and Juliet. Off-Broadway: Othello, Hamlet, King Lear, Titus Andronicus, Public Theater; Red Speedo, Othello (Drama Desk nomination), NYTW; Judgement Day, The Hairy Ape (Drama Desk Nomination), Park Ave Armory. Opera: Le Nozze de Figaro, Il Trovatore, Tosca, The Met.
Make-Up Design
Rachel Padula
Make-Up Design
Rachel Padula
A.R.T.: Macbeth in Stride, Moby-Dick, Charlotte’s Web (Costume Design), Trans Scripts, Part I: The Women; Fingersmith; In the Body of the World; Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812; Waitress; Crossing; The Heart of Robin Hood; Pippin; All the Way; The Glass Menagerie; Marie Antoinette; The Blue Flower; Cabaret; Death and the Powers; Best of Both Worlds; Donnie Darko; Julius Caesar; Copenhagen; The Communist Dracula Pageant. Broadway: Waitress, The Glass Menagerie. Regional: The Colored Museum, Huntington Theatre Company.
Associate Scenic Designer
Stephen Carmody
Associate Costume Designers
Sarah Decker
Annie Le
Associate Lighting Designer
Aaron Tacy
Assistant Lighting Designer
Anna Brevetti
Associate Sound Designer
Daniel Lundberg
A1/Mixer
Timothy Jarell
TSDCA Fellow
Lucy Peckham
Associate Hair and Wig Designer
Ashley Wise
Associate Projection Designer
Brittany Bland
Projections Programmer
Danny Carr
Electronic Music Design
Strange Cranium
Copyist
Russ Bartmus
Rehearsal Pianist
Cynthia Meng
Research Consultant
Emily Sneff
Additional Dramaturgy
Elizabeth Amos
Production Assistants
Elise Joyner
Sage Lumsden
Maia Tivony
Costume Production Assistant
Angie Le
COVID-19 Safety Managers
Ali Regan
Charlotte Palmucci
Company Management Intern
Max Seelig
Special Thanks
Nicole Brown, Alyssa Mt. Pleasant
Diane Borger, Nadia DiGiallonardo, Rich Mercurio, Meghan Toohey
Melissa D’Anello, Archon Fung, Anthony Saich, Tova Wang, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation; Catherine Allgor, Sara Martin, Massachusetts Historical Society; Museum of the American Revolution; Revolutionary Spaces; Royall House & Slave Quarters
Jane Kamensky’s HIST 1776 students at Harvard: Chinaza Asiegbu, Desmond Goodwin, Liz Hoveland, Nithyani Karthiga, Ben Sorkin, Oliver Sughrue, Michael Wallace, Sarah Wexner, Harry Sage; A.R.T. Summer 2019 Artistic Interns: Ruva Chigwedere, Ece Hakim, Allie Jeffay, Genevieve Lefevre, Chloe Levine, Lindsay McAuliffe, and Eli Troen; The students of TDM 194; David Moberg, Emma Rogers
Buffer Trenouth Physical Therapy and Wellness
Additional Lighting Equipment provided by Christie Lites.
Additional Sound Equipment provided by Sound Associates, Inc.
Additional Projections Equipment provided by Sound Associates, Inc.
Rehearsed at the New 42nd Street Studios
Image Credits, used with permission:
Dennis Bratland; Canton Becker; Funcrunch Photo; Bob Navarro; Lorie Shaull; State Library of Louisiana; Washington National Cathedral; 1973 Sylvia Rivera Archival Material Courtesy of LoveTapesCollective and L.O.V.E. Collective with special thanks to the Lesbian Herstory Archives.
The actors and stage managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.
The Director and Choreographer of this production are members of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union.
United Scenic Artists represents the designers and scenic painters for the American Theatre.
The musicians employed in this production are members of the American Federation of Musicians.
Musical Numbers
ACT 1
Sit Down, John: John Adams, Company
Piddle, Twiddle, and Resolve: Adams, Company
Till Then: John and Abigail Adams
The Lees of Old Virginia: Lee, Franklin, Adams
But, Mr. Adams—: Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Sherman, Livingston
Yours, Yours, Yours: John and Abigail Adams
He Plays the Violin: Martha Jefferson, Franklin, Adams
ACT 2
Cool, Cool Considerate Men: Dickinson, Hall, Hewes, Read, Rutledge, Wilson
Momma, Look Sharp: Courier, McNair, Company
The Egg: Franklin, Adams, Jefferson
Molasses to Rum: Rutledge, Company
Yours, Yours, Yours (Reprise): Abigail Adams
Is Anybody There?: Adams
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For the first time in a professional production of 1776, the script includes—with the permission of the Stone and Edwards estates—an excerpt of Abigail Adams’ March 31, 1776 letter to John Adams: I long to hear that you have declared an independancy—and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation. For more of the correspondence between John and Abigail, please visit The Adams Papers Digital Edition, published by the Massachusetts Historical Society. |
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Inspired by the scholarship of Annette Gordon-Reed, this production features a depiction of Robert Hemings—the enslaved fourteen-year-old (and half-brother of Martha Jefferson) who accompanied Thomas Jefferson to the Second Continental Congress as a servant. From Gordon-Reed’s The Hemingses of Monticello (W.W. Norton & Company, 2008): Throughout the early days at Monticello, Robert Hemings traveled extensively with Jefferson in Virginia, and in 1776 the fourteen-year-old lived with Jefferson in Philadelphia when he was a member of the Continental Congress and wrote the Declaration of Independence. Robert Hemings is portrayed here by Imani Pearl Williams. For more information about the Hemings family, please see the Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia, published digitally by Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. |
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