1776 At Greater Worcester Opera

Arts for the MASSes: Greater Worcester Opera Takes On 1776

Greater Worcester Opera, now in its 23rd year, staged the Sherman Edwards–Peter Stone musical 1776 this past June — five performances across a June 4–7 run, including two matinees.

For the actor playing John Adams, it was familiar ground. "This is the third time I've played John Adams," he said, calling 1776 possibly his favorite musical and singling out Peter Stone's libretto as one of the strongest books in the American musical theatre canon. What keeps drawing him back is the chance to speak language lifted straight from the historical record. There's a privilege, he said, in getting to say the actual words John wrote to Abigail.

Elaine Crane — who founded Greater Worcester Opera and serves as its executive director, while also handling costuming, marketing, and, in this case, the role of Abigail Adams — described the same pull from the other side of the correspondence. Abigail's songs draw on her letters. "They're her words," Crane said. "That's really important." She pointed to the old idea that singing begins where speech runs out: with that much feeling packed into the writing, being able to bring a full voice to words Abigail actually set down is, in her words, an honor.

Both performers kept returning to how contemporary the show feels. The country is often described as more divided than it has ever been, the Adams actor noted, but 1776 makes the case that the split isn't new. The line between North and South in that Congress — over slavery, and over independence itself — was drawn hard and early. He compared it, dryly, to the state of Congress today.

Crane framed the parallel as a reason to watch rather than a reason to despair. The story matters because it's where the country came from, she said, but also because people have always been people. Congress still fights. The issues rhyme. Even through disagreement, everyone in the room is ultimately reaching for the same thing — which she offered as a case for celebrating shared roots.

That humanity is the show's real engine, the Adams actor said. Stone's dialogue is built so that nearly every character, down to the smallest part, gets a moment to reveal something of themselves. It's what hooked him the first time he encountered the piece: these weren't dusty figures on a textbook page, but living, breathing people.

Greater Worcester Opera's upcoming programming and ticket information can be found at greaterworcesteropera.org.