Broadway play ‘1776’ comes to Blumenthal with gender diverse cast

Musical about America’s ‘founding fathers’ includes female, transgender, and non-binary actors

by David Aaron Moore Qnotes Staff Writer

The Broadway production of 1776, a musical scored by Sherman Edwards with a book by Peter Stone, is based on the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It tells the story of John Adams’ efforts to persuade his colleagues to vote for independence and to sign the constitution.

The show originally premiered on Broadway in 1969, which resulted in a Tony Award for Best Musical.

In 1972, it was made into a film adaptation. Later still it was revived on Broadway in 1997 and again in 2022, this time with a cast made up of people who identify as female, trans, non-binary, of color and lesbian.

Some of the same cast members are appearing in the traveling 2023 roadshow version playing at the Belk Theater June 6-11.

From the theater company responsible for the latest presentation of “1776,” as presented through the acting skills of women and gender non-conforming actors, comes this description:

“What will it take to get two dozen powerfully passionate, exceedingly complicated, and all-too-human individuals to settle their differences, while they hold the very future of a nation in their hands? American Repertory Theater from Harvard University/Roundabout Theatre Company’s new production of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, ‘1776,’ catapults to blazing new life in a thrillingly new production from directors Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus.

Shelby Acosta, an actress who identifies as she, queer and from El Paso, Texas (with family roots in Mexico), is as enthusiastic about the play as the company’s description.

“This makes the second time I have been a part of the play,” she explains. “I was involved with the latest revival cast presentation, which was like my dream job, and now I get to go on the road with the show. It’s been a great experience and the cast is full of so many wonderful people that are amazing to work with.”

Acosta attended school in El Paso and, as it is so often with many professional actors, got her start in schoolbased theatrical productions.

“That was when the bug bit me,” she recalls with a laugh.

When she came to the realization that a career in stage acting in El Paso would be somewhat limited, she decided to make the move to New York City for easier access to auditioning for Broadway plays.

So far she has performed in ensemble stage presentations on cruise ships and appeared in “Into the Woods” as Cinderella, (an experience she described as unusual because she never saw herself as a Cinderella type); and the Broadway productions of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Saturday Night

Fever,” among others.

In “1776,” she plays the role of Charles Thomson, a man who during his own life was a translator of Latin (and other languages) and worked directly with the creators of the constitution.

“The role I play is more or less a kind of messenger,” she explains. “I’m always in touch with George Washington who is off somewhere fighting a battle and I am able to relay to those who are creating the Constitution what his thoughts and feelings are and tell the audience what the plot points are.”

One of Acosta’s unique and most rewarding experiences with the play is the opportunity to work with trans women in the cast. “It’s not something I experience or even see very often in New York on Broadway and other productions,” she explains. “As progressive as New York City is, and as color blind theater there is to casting, I don’t feel they’ve gotten that far with trans actors.”

“There seems to be this kind of wall that goes up. Rather than cast a trans individual in a trans role, we see a cisgender person playing a trans character and the producers call that okay. In this production we get to see so many people just being themselves, while still playing these characters. We’ve got actors who are trans and people who identify as non-binary, queer and lesbian.”

With the current political environment created by conservatives and Republicans lashing out at the LGBTQ community and especially at trans folk and drag performers, some members of the cast felt a mixture of trepidation and reserve when it came time to bring the production to the southern states.

“So there was some concern, yes. But so far there hasn’t been any problem and since we are playing larger cities we’re all hoping that won’t be the case.

“I mean a number of people are taking issues with trans people and drag queens these days and here we are all in drag in some form or another and we’ve got trans people in our cast.”

Despite how much Acosta enjoys her role and the play itself, she admits she did face some challenges playing a white, cisgender man from the 18th century.

“In some ways we are normalizing these men who were racist slave owners and homophobic. Had I been alive back then I would never have been allowed to be a part of forming the Constitution. I wouldn’t have been any kind of consideration.

“We want the audience to see us as we morph into these characters, but still see us for who we are. I think it’s a really good thing for people to see this coming from us, instead of a cast of cisgender white men.

“It gives a completely different perspective, shows us how the world is changing and how much we are a part of this country now as they were then.”

Tickets available at the Belk Theatre website. ::