1776 at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall

It's a sweltering summer in Philadelphia, and the fate of a nation hangs in the balance. The Second Continental Congress is in session, and John Adams of Massachusetts is a man on a mission — and a man thoroughly despised by his fellow delegates. Passionate, relentless, and more than a little obnoxious, Adams is determined to convince Congress to vote for independence from Great Britain. The problem? No one wants to listen.

With the help of the wise and wily Benjamin Franklin, Adams enlists the eloquent Thomas Jefferson to draft a declaration that might finally move the colonies to action. But Jefferson has troubles of his own, longing for his beloved wife Martha back home in Virginia. As the clock ticks and General Washington's desperate dispatches from the battlefield paint a picture of a losing war, Adams and Franklin must negotiate, persuade, and compromise — navigating the competing interests of merchants, landowners, and slaveholders — all while knowing that a single "nay" vote could end the dream of independence forever.

A funny, deeply human, and surprisingly suspenseful retelling of one of history's most pivotal moments, 1776 brings the Founding Fathers to vivid life — proud, petty, frightened, and ultimately noble — in a musical that reminds us just how fragile, and how hard-won, American democracy truly was.

Music and Lyrics by Sherman Edwards | Book by Peter Stone
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical, 1969