Photos: First Look at THE SOUND OF AMERICA at FringeArts

In The Sound of America, Benjamin Franklin is presented as America’s first rock star, a struggling musician, inventor, and runaway printer.

By: Chloe Rabinowitz Jul. 02, 2026

Philadelphia theater audiences can now experience the world premiere of The Sound of America, a rock musical created by Randall Lane and Todd Schwartz, reimagining Benjamin Franklin as America’s first rock star. See photos!

The production transforms the story of Philadelphia’s favorite son into an epic rock musical about identity, rebellion, and the creation of a true American voice. Directed by Barrymore Award-winner Kyle Metzger, the musical features a live rock ensemble backing a cast of all-local actors led by Kohl Pilgrim as Benjamin Franklin and co-stars Federica Andino-Vega, Kaedon Knight, Jameson May, and Gerson Malave. Arriving in time for America’s Semiquincentennial celebrations, The Sound of America runs from July 1 to August 1, with 30 performances presented at FringeArts (140 N Christopher Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19106), a 300-seat performing arts center right under the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Old City.

In The Sound of America, Benjamin Franklin (Pilgrim) is presented as America’s first rock star, a struggling musician, inventor, and runaway printer who forms a scrappy band with his Leather Apron Club friends in Philadelphia. He accidentally unlocks the power of electric rock n’ roll after a lightning strike changes everything. As Franklin’s revolutionary new sound makes him an international sensation, he and his wife, Deborah (Andino-Vega), are swept into a world of fame, excess, political intrigue, and growing tension with the British elite. Manipulated by the cunning Lord Alexander Wedderburn (Knight) and seduced by celebrity culture, Franklin abandons his band and risks losing the people and ideals that once grounded him. Blending humor, history, and live arena-rock spectacle, The Sound of America tells the electrifying origin story of both a nation and its most rebellious art form.

Photo credit: Ashley Smith, Wide Eyed Studios