A special treat for Independence Day
A whole musical! Because what could be more appropriate for a holiday that celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence than a show about the adoption of the Declaration of Independence? I give you 1776 , by Sherman Edwards (music, lyrics, and original book ) and Peter Stone (book). Well, okay, I'm not posting the whole musical here. I'm just going to bring a few excerpts: Opening ("Sit Down, John"), sung by Brent Spiner (as John Adams) and company: Video posted by aurora spiderwpman That's one way to get all the exposition out of the way. (As it happens, I was fortunate enough to see this 1998 revival, and loved it.) I'm including this non-song bit because hey, some things never change! Video posted by Nicholas S. Castellano (In real life, that is something John Adams wrote in his diary , but yep, it was about New Yorkers.) "But Mr. Adams", sung in 2009 at the Redlands Bowl: Video posted by Jason livesay John Ada