Welcome to a New Kind of 1776

It seems like every year I make a post about one of my favorite musicals: 1776. I grew up watching it every 4th of July and this year was no different. 

I also swore to myself that I wouldn't write anything about the show this year. What more was there for me to say?

A few months ago, I started getting ads on my YouTube videos (can't imagine how the algorithm learned of my love of musical theater) for a new version of 1776, one that was a little different from all other iterations. It would star a diverse cast of actors who were either, ciswomen, transgender women, or non-binary people. 

I had to see it.

And this past week, my friend and I took a trip out to the Kennedy Center. My friend had never seen the play and wasn't familiar with it - though she knew the American legends behind it (we're both graduates of the American public school system after all). She enjoyed the show. I admit that I was looking forward to seeing the changes and differences that had to have been made for this iteration. While, there were some noticeable changes (the cast for example), the current play sticks very close to the original book. 

Some notable changes (minus the cast) were changes to the music accompanying songs like "The Egg", "Mama Look Sharp", and "Molasses to Rum", an update to Abagail's "talk" with John in "Yours, Yours, Yours" asking for him to think of the women (which is a direct quote from one of her letters to John), the inclusion of projections especially with examples of American's right to assembly and petition in the song "The Egg", the removal of two minor characters (Leather Apron is often removed, but I was surprised by the removal of Mr. Morris from New York), Jefferson was shown with a black slave in some scenes, and a truly diabolical change to the presentation of "Molasses to Rum". 

The cast was excellent and even doubled up in some roles. The person playing Abigail Adams also played Rev. Jonathan Witherspoon, while Martha Jefferson and Dr. Lyman Hall were played by the same person. I wouldn't have noticed this change because the costuming is really good at making each character distinct. 

Accents also flew around the stage like migrating birds. I expected the accents from Col. McKean (the character has a very Scottish way of talking that adds charm to the character) and the southern delegates, especially Edward Rutledge and Joseph Hewes. However, the accents used by the actors playing Thomas Jefferson and Richard Henry Lee weren't expected, but were delightful. The person playing Richard Henry Lee performed a particularly good "The Lees of Old Virginia". 

My favorite song "Mama Look Sharp" was presented a little more seriously from the beginning. Without Leather Apron as a character, his youthful optimism was given to McNair (who is usually played older and more jaded). The music became more soulful, rather than the original accompaniment that mimicked music on the battlefield. Additionally, members of the cast came out all dressed in black to sing the harmony verse. It was just as moving as the original and there wasn't a dry eye in the theater - my self of course included. 

I also jumped about a foot in the air when they shot off a gun early in the song. 

One of the best changes was to the song "Molasses to Rum". This song is incredibly important as it's part of the emotional climax. It's diabolical and doesn't shy away from the sins of America's past with slavery. If done poorly, the impact is lost - and I've seen it done poorly. 

I'm not sure how to describe the musical changes, but the person playing Rutledge knew how to toe the line between Southern gentleperson and evil overlord. The black members of the cast, minus those playing Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, removed their outer costumes so they were in black pants and white shirts representing the slaves who were brought to the Americas against their will. They had a fantastically choreographed dance that punctuated the horrors. Other cast members sat at two tables boxing in the dancers, like the sides of ships, and banged on the tables while chanting parts of the song that had only originally belonged to Rutledge. The sound of whips was removed.

It was a dramatic and totally serious performance. For a play with a lot of fun jokes and reminds the audience of the humanity and fallibility of the founding fathers, this song tosses all the laughter at the window to play the horror straight. 

The musical 1776 has never shied away from the issue of slavery. It's a climatic and dramatic conflict in the play that is devoid of the laughter of other issues to obtain independence presented. This version included a silent character who appeared in select scenes with Thomas Jefferson - a black slave - who disappears when the other characters arrive. The scenes highlight the hypocrisy of the founding fathers demanding their freedom, while profiting from the slavery of black Americans. I think only four of the founders - including John Adams - did not own slaves.

This subtilty is a good addition and is a great example of visual story telling.

Overall, I'm very happy with this version of the play. If you get a chance, I recommend seeing it. It's flawed, but so are it's subjects. It inspired Hamilton and teaches that America's founders are not the myths we're taught.

Until next week. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Welcome to Adaptation as Fanfiction

Here's a not so secret fact about me: I enjoy fanfiction.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying fanfiction - sometimes I want to see what other authors think was happening with two background characters while the main characters were ignoring them or sometimes I want to speculate on what happened after the story ended.

Fanfiction is fan taking a work they love and adapting that work into a new story. This is not a new idea and often adaptation is in itself a type of fanfiction. There's a very fine line between what is cannon and what is not cannon and sometimes a work can be removed from the cannon (see any fan arguing about the Star Wars Legends demotion).

I'd argue some of the most popular plays, movies, and TV shows of the past decade could easily fall within the category of fanfiction as well as adaptation.

Hey look, mythological fan art!

For example, Hamilton is a "real person" fanfiction (yes they exist, no I'm not very fond of them, though there are a few I like) as is the movie/play 1776 (though they really do Judge Wilson dirty in 1776). Hadestown is one of my all time favorite plays...and totally an alternate reality version of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Pretty much anything that features Sherlock Holmes is a fanfiction (unless it's a direct story adaptation).

But do these examples really count? Aren't they just adaptations of materials in the public domain or of real events?

Yes and they are also a form of fanfiction.

A Cinderella and historical fiction fanfiction (because Da Vinci is in it)

Go re-watch Hamilton on Disney+ and tell me that Lin-Manuel Miranda isn't a fan of the real historical Alexander Hamilton. He spent 6 years developing that play. His passion had to have been sparked somehow.

Look! More public domain adaptations that are also fanfiction.

Oh Brother Where Art Thou takes a lot of liberties with the plot of The Odyssey, but clearly someone was a big enough fan of the original story to create an alternative universe where George Clooney (as Odysseus) escapes from prison to get back with his wife. It is so blatantly obvious in places, that I -without knowing the movie had any ties to The Odyssey before watching - picked up on the imagery (especially with John Goodman as the cyclops and the sirens scene).

And don't even get me started on anything and everything related to Sherlock Holmes (the original toxic fandom). Watching the old movies where Holmes goes up against the Nazis is trippy because I think of Holmes in the 1880s or 1890s - when there weren't Nazis. Though I admit to a deep fondness for all of the Wishbone adaptations of the books.

However, fanfiction goes even further back than this past century and the insane copyright laws currently in existence - one of many reasons fanfiction has become so prevalent. These works were often held in such regard that they helped change how a society saw the origins of the works.

Shakespeare created several plays about the English Kings (starting with Edward III and ending with Richard III) as this really cool adapted history of his country. These adaptations can also fall into fanfiction territory as Shakespeare had to take many liberties when adapting the narratives into plays. He had to write parts for the actors in his companies, speak to the audience in a way they would understand, and keep his wealthy patrons happy. Henry V didn't have a friend named Sir John Falstaff, he's fictional and also appears in The Merry Wives of Windsor which I'm fairly certain isn't part of the English Kings plays. However, Falstaff was (supposedly) a fan favorite of the audience and is speculated to be based off of a real person (speculations include the actor playing him, but no conclusive evidence exists).

This series of plays by Shakespeare are often seen as helping educate and shape public opinion on English history (particularly where the monarchs are concerned). Henry V is the tragic hero the public needs because he was on the right side of the War of the Roses, while Richard III is a total villain because he was on the wrong side of the war (he also likely murdered his nephews and rightful heirs to the throne, so...).

You guys might not have read the epic poems of Dante's Divine Comedy or John Milton's Paradise Lost, but by the universe you've either heard of them or been exposed to something that has been influenced by them.

 I've seen Paradise Lost referenced by Mary Shelly in Frankenstien, Neil Gainman in Sandman, a scene in the movie Animal House, the Star Trek episode "Space Seed", and more video games and songs than I have space to list. Needless to say, it's popular.

It's also this very long angsty fanfiction about the fallen angel Lucifer and the war between heaven and hell. I wouldn't even call this an adaptation of a Bible story, this is just straight up fanfiction about things that are referenced or barely mentioned in The Good Book.

That goes double for The Divine Comedy. The trilogy is a prime example of self insert fanfiction (written by a good writer) if I ever read such a story. The guy gets to meet his favorite Latin poet, get a VIP tour of hell, puragory, and heaven, damn two Popes to hell (it's complicated), and meets all the whose who of dead guys in 14th century western culture (seriously there are a lot of side conversations that could easily have been skipped over Dante).

This particular work of fiction was so popular by the time's powers at be that it influenced the Christian religion up to, well...now. Half the reason westerners and Christians think of hell the way they do is because of Dante. Heck, who else would have sentenced Marcus Junius Brutus to be eaten for eternity by the devil himself? An Italian with a grudge - that's who.

But you don't have to listen to my arguments for this. Overly Sarcastic Productions on YouTube has a fantastic summary of all three books and why they are the most fanfiction of fanfiction writings in existence that are also held in such high regard. Seriously check out the videos, they're hilarious.

So the next time you bash someone for writing or enjoying fanfiction, just remember that you might be a fan of someone else's fanfiction...that was just given a budget.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to Independence

Tomorrow is America's birthday! Or at least our founding fathers signed a document declaring us independent from our parent country England on the 4th of July. Still it's time to celebrate our independence.

I will likely spend the day watching the movies 1776 and Independence Day (the one from the 90s with Will Smith). I might catch the fireworks show, but it really depends on if I want to walk over to the park or not.

Having independence is a great thing. I love being independent from my parents. I make my own rules and don't have to answer to anyone except myself. Though paying my own bills and being the only person responsible for the chores isn't fun.

At first independence from my parents was a lot of fun. Of course my first real taste of independence was in college. I still had the responsibilities of a student, but my parents were still supporting me in more ways than one. I am extremely grateful for that and recognize that for others it sometimes isn't possible.

After I graduated, my whole world seemed to change. My responsibilies increased exponentially, but I had even more freedom than before. Balancing the two is hard work and a little scary at times.

At least now I know what to do when my toilet starts shooting water onto the ceiling in the middle of the night.

I'm still growing as a person (much like the United States is growing as a nation). I know there will be more good and bad times. Hopefully I'll know what to do when crazy things happen.

Now I'm going to celebrate being independent.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Happy American Independence Day everyone!

Welcome To America's Birthday

Happy Forth of July everyone! Or at least the day after the forth of July. And what better way to end the holiday weekend celebrating everything 'Merica than by watching the USA in the Women's World Cup. It is a glorious game.

The forth of July was a little different this year. It was the first year that my dad, sibling and I didn't set off our own sparklers (the legal stuff of course). Instead we watched what we could from my dad's balcony and the PBS special. To be honest, I thought watching the DC fireworks show on TV was a lot more fun  than actually going to DC. At least we can hear the music and fireworks when watching it on TV. It was also really cloudy yesterday and made it hard to see anything.

All other forth of July traditions were celebrated.

Our first mission of the morning was going out and buying a Blueray copy of 1776. If you've never seen the movie, it's worth it. Mr. Feeny (William Daniels) is in it and it totally explains why the high school in Boy Meets World was John Adams High.

My sibling and I then fought over control of the TV as both the England v. Germany game was on and Independence Day (another must in my family). Sibling won, and I followed the game online (today's game was way more important anyway).

We finished off the day by watching Jurassic Park (the original of course). I really wanted to see it again after seeing the new one and we all wanted to laugh at the original line Jess Goldblum says in both Jurassic Park and Independence Day ("Must go faster! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!")

In some ways the forth of July reminds me what American's fought for (and are still fighting for), the right to be independent and create there own destinies. No one tells the United States what to do (well they try, but we tend to ignore them). It also reminds me of how our nation has changed since we signed a piece of paper telling the world that we didn't belong to anyone.

Since 1776, we no longer have to have property to vote, we can be of any race or nationality as long as we are a citizen of the US, we don't have to be a man, we have 17 more amendments than we started with, and we are continuing to grow. Sure we don't agree on anything (internationally and internally), but we're learning and evolving. Hopefully for the better.

If I had one wish for the United State's Birthday, it's that we keep growing and evolving. We're probably going to make some more mistakes (it's not like we haven't before), but we have to continue creating our own destiny.

Here's to another year and not f!%*&$g it up too much.

If you enjoyed this post (or it pissed you off), please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Until next week.