1776 (Broadway)

Roundabout's revival of 1776 recasts America's founding fathers as female and non-binary. This might perhaps be more shocking in a pre-Hamilton era but nowadays the founding fathers are whoever you want to be. Maybe they thought they were capitalizing on Hamilton's success but people love Hamilton because it's good, not for some vague fandom for the American Revolution. The protagonist is John Adams, who is decidedly less interesting than Alexander Hamilton. His main characterization is that he was annoying and disliked. He is strongly pro-independence. And he does not compromise.

The play is pretty boring to be honest. There aren't that many songs. There are long stretches of debate that are completely without music. It really makes you appreciate Cabinet Battle. And the music that does exist is mostly forgettable, and kind of irrelevant. What is that Egg song? I expected bigger for the opener or the Act I finale, or indeed the Act II finale.

The plot is pretty empty. In the first act, they clearly do not have the votes for independence. We're never really told how they convince everyone to come around by the end. There is a discussion about slavery, which doesn't really answer why the southern states become amenable to independence. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention had it pretty good because of slavery. They complain about taxes and mistreatment by the crown, but they have it comparatively good if you consider the way Britain treated its other colonies and certainly if you consider how the colonists were treating their slaves. The fact of the matter is that those who opposed independence were pretty satisfied with the status quo. It's the reason they ignore George Washington's entreaties for military support. We don't really get a sense of why they opposed independence nor what convinces them to change their mind.