UAA Presents 1776

By: Kim Stanford  Oct 14, 2004

UAA Theater presents the 1968 Tony Award winning musical 1776 October 15 through November 7.

The seminal event in American History blazes to life in this most unconventional of Broadway hits.

It’s the summer of 1776 and the nation is ready to declare independence as only our founding fathers can agree to do it!

1776 puts a human face on the pages of history as we see the men behind the national icons: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin: proud, frightened, uncertain, irritable, charming and ultimately noble figures determined to do the right thing for a fledgling nation.

It is the perfect play to celebrate the Fiftieth Anniversary of the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Who knew the writing of the Declaration of Independence could be so much fun.

The director for the production is Frances Lautenberger who gave Anchorage audiences shows like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens.

1776 is a show that Fran has wanted to be a part of since high school and is privileged to be surrounded by such talented people. The cast of this remarkable show covers a wide range of talent from across the Anchorage community.

Tom Skore, UAA Department Chair and Mari Hahn, UAA Music professor are teaming up as Mr. and Mrs. John Adams.

The musical director for the show, Michael More, noted opera singer, will also be playing Edward Rutledge. Brent Bateman is the indomitable Dr. Franklin and Tim Gillard will be playing Thomas Jefferson.

The rest of the cast is made up of an exciting blend of long standing theatre community folks, UAA Theatre and Music majors, several Anchorage School District teachers and some high school students.

The choreographer is Kristin Vierthaler and, the musical theatre veteran, Lynette Harple is the orchestra conductor.

The sets and the costumes for the show are very elaborate and represent an amazing amount of detail that one would expect in this historical show.

Frank Bebey is designing the set and Fran Lautenberger is doing double duty designing the costumes in addition to directing.

1776 opens October 15, 2004 and will run FOUR Weeks instead of the usual run of three weeks for the usual UAA production.

Ticket Prices:

Friday/Saturday: General Admission $12.00 Reserved Seating $17.

Sunday:  General Admission $9.00 Reserved Seating $13.00

Discounts for students, seniors and military are available.

Call the UAA ticket Office at 786-4849 for more information.