Musical Theatre West's 1776 Runs Through 7/25

Paul Garman, Producing Executive Director, and Steven Glaudini, Producing Artistic Director of Musical Theatre West, are proud to announce the its production of 1776. 1776 will run through July 25, 2010 at the beautiful Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.

The stellar cast stars Glaudini, who reprises his 2004 Ovation Award-winning role as John Adams; Steve Vinovich (Lost in Yonkers) as Benjamin Franklin; John Bisom(MTW's Wizard of Oz, The Full Monty) as Thomas Jefferson; Tami Tappan Damiano (MTW's The Full Monty, Never Gonna Dance) as AbiGail Adams; Andy Umberger (National Tour Guys and Dolls) as John Dickinson and Robert J. Townsend (Ovation-Award Jekyll and Hyde, National Tour Mamma Mia and Camelot) as Edward Rutledge. Featured in the cast are Jessica Bernard (Sweeney Todd, Guys and Dolls) as Martha Jefferson, Brad Fitzgerald as Joseph Hewes, Richard Gould (MTW's Sweeney Todd, LA & Vegas Phantom of the Opera) as Stephen Hopkins, Michael Kean as The Courier and Damon Kirsche as Dr. Lyman Hall. The cast also includes Nicholas J. Leinbach, James May, Jack Messenger, Bradley Miller, Todd Nielsen, John Richard Petersen, Jon Powell, Tom Shelton, Blake Sterling, Tony Teofilo, Chris D. Thomas, Daniel Thomas, Robert Towers and Jason Webb.

Davis Gaines will play the role of Richard Henry Lee. Mr. Gaines performed the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera more than 2,000 times for over five million people during his run on Broadway, in Los Angeles and in San Francisco, where he received the Bay Area Critics' Award for Best Actor.

Under the helm of Ovation Award- winning director Nick DeGruccio (MTW's RENT and The Andrews Brothers), 1776 will run July 9-25, 2010 at the beautiful Carpenter Performing Arts Center. With music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards and book by Peter Stone, 1776 premiered on Broadway in 1969 and is based on the events leading up the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence. John Adams, disliked by many in Congress, joins up with Benjamin Franklin, Richard Henry Lee and Thomas Jefferson to bring forward a resolution for independence that will eventually set America free from England's tyranny. As relevant today as it was when this piece was written, this musical telling of our nation's birth features the songs "Sit Down, John," "Till Then," "But, Mr. Adams," "Yours, Yours, Yours" and "He Plays the Violin."

ABOUT MUSICAL Theatre WestNow in its 57th season, Musical Theatre West is Southern California's premier musical theater company. Under the leadership of Executive Director/Producer Paul Garman, the company has garnered numerous awards and accolades for its work presenting the entire spectrum of musical comedy, including 21 Ovation Award nominations over the past three seasons and the Margaret Harford Award for Sustained Excellence in the Theatre.

Musical Theatre West performances are at the 1,070-seat Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the California State University, Long Beach, campus. Season Tickets are available now and can be purchased through the MTW Box Office at (562) 856-1999 x4 or online at www.musical.org.

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