[NEohioPAL] The Hudson Players continues 1776 run this weekend!

[Dana Herro via NEohioPAL]

OPENING WEEKEND WAS ALMOST COMPLETELY SOLD OUT. DON'T DELAY IN RESERVING
YOUR SEATS!! :-)

For tickets, please visit www.HudsonPlayers.com or call 330-655-8522

As you watch the upcoming Hudson Players’ performance of the Tony-award
winning, Broadway musical, 1776, you’ll wonder how the Declaration of
Independence ever got done!

Filled with sarcasm, name-calling, and physical altercations between
politicians like John Adams, Ben Franklin and many others, the only likely
difference between the congress of 1776 and the current one is the frequent
outburst of songs.

The cast, which just recently began its practices at Barlow Community
Theatre in Hudson, consists of nearly all men (25) and two women, with
nearly all being from the Hudson, Stow, Cuyahoga Falls, Twinsburg, Akron,
and Barberton areas.

For some, it’s their first show with the Hudson Players, and for others,
like the co-music director Ron Jones, it’s the 4th show, and the 3rd time
he’s assisted Roger Clary with the music (others include the award-winning
Secret Garden and Spamalot).  For Ron, 1776 has been on his “bucket list
since it came out in the early 70’s…When Roger called, I jumped at the
chance to be part of the production.  Historically, this gives you a real
inside to the creation of the Declaration of Independence…It wasn’t all
just fun and games.”  He comments further that the “music develops the
historical significance of the people and social norms of the time.”

Conni Caldren-Fleming, as choreographer (and first time with Hudson
Players), has always wanted to do 1776, as it is one of her “favorite
pieces of the theatre and I really want the audience to not only be
entertained, but to understand that these characters were real people,
risking literally everything including their lives, doing an impossible
thing at an impossible time in history—and they succeeded!”

Director Claudia Lillibridge, who previously directed The Secret Garden
with Hudson Players, says that the greatest challenge of 1776 is “making
sure there is space for everyone” as the cast is so large for many of the
scenes.  She goes on that “it is truly an honor to be involved in a show
where the characters were real humans, with real lives, real problems and
real joy.”

The fun begins with a tied vote for independence and the rest is, well,
history!  John Adams, who takes most of the heat (literally and
figuratively!) in the show, is played by Mark Durbin of Twinsburg.  He is
the victim being attacked in the first song, “For God’s Sake John, Sit
Down!” which sets the humorous and energetic tone for the production.

Joining Mark Durbin (Adams) are Gary Maher as John Hancock, Jessica
DeFrange as Abigail Adams, long-time Hudson resident Jim Wolf as Richard
Henry Lee, Michael J. Rogan as John Dickerson, Bob Kenderes as Andrew
McNair, Adam Klusty of Barberton as Leather Apron, William Johns as the
Courior, Thaddeus Bosman as Dr. Lyman Hall, Thomas Emerick as Stephen
Hopkinson, and Mark Moore as Colonel Thomas McKean.  John D. Haller plays
Ceasar Rodney, Dan Williams is George Reed, Doug Lillibridge returns to
Hudson Players as Lewis Morris, John Marfy portrays Robert Livingston, and
John Alan Webb is cast as Joseph Hewes.  Other cast members include Nathan
Hill as Josiah Bartlett, Nathan Borukhovsky as Roger Sherman, Michael
Guffey playing the red-haired and lonely Thomas Jefferson, Jessica West as
Martha Jefferson, Sean Donavan as Samuel Chase, Issac Whitemarsh as the
painter, Kirk Worcester (most recently of “Play On” with Hudson Players),
Fig Jankowski as the cantankerous Ben Franklin (and formerly of the Addams
Family production), Roger Parker as the Reverend John Witherspoon, and
Thomas Horsfall as James Wilson.

1776 will be held at Barlow Community Theatre (41 S. Oviatt Rd, Hudson)
February 5, 6, 12, 19, 20, 21*, 26, and 27 at 8 pm (*special 2 pm
matinee).  Tickets can be obtained by calling 330-655-8522, emailing
info at HudsonPlayers.com, or visiting the website, www.hudsonplayers.com.
You can also check out Facebook.com/hudsonplayers or
twitter.com/hudsonplayers.
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