Quote of the day:

I learned … that one can never go back, that one should not ever try to go back—that the essence of life is going forward. Life is really a one way street, isn’t it?
—Agatha Christie

I’ve been saving this one up, but the forthcoming documentary by Ken Burns on The American Revolution seems as good a time as any.

The recent Fresh Air interview with Ken Burns about his documentary can be found here.

Among other things he talks about how Americans aren’t very well versed in the details of their own American Revolution, and one of the examples that he gives concerns Benjamin Franklin’s son.

To which I say, well, those of us who know the musical 1776 know all about Benjamin Franklin’s son. In the following clip I juxtapose Ken Burns talking about Franklin’s son followed by an excerpt from the musical. This is from a 1996 production of the show by the New Jersey Bickford Theater.

Here’s a short scene from earlier in the musical where Ben Franklin is trying to convince John Adams to let someone else propose a resolution for independence because every time Adams proposes, he gets shouted down. They are soon joined by Richard Henry Lee. In the original Broadway production the part of Richard Henry Lee was played by Ron Holgate who won a Tony as Best Featured Actor in a Musical even though this was practically the only scene he appeared in. The song was devised to be a real rouser, as it’s followed by about 45 minutes of the Continental Congress debating the question of independence without any music.

Here is the full video of the 1996 Bickford Theater production of 1776. It’s a professional production and quite good; the only problem is that the sound is not always entirely clear. So you might miss a few words here and there if you aren’t familiar with the show. If you know the movie, you’ll notice that the movie and the show are about 90% identical. There were a few things taken out of the play for the movie, and a few new things added.

And finally here is a playlist of 53—count ’em, 53—versions of 1776 on YouTube. Some are just fragments but there are quite a few full productions. Some are community theater shows, some are high school productions. But if you love the show as I do, you might enjoy browsing through them. Playlist of 1776 Productions