One of the best shows I ever saw on Broadway was the 1997 revival of the musical, 1776. In fact, I saw it twice. The first time, it was not long after it opened and if memory serves me, I believe I took Catherine Gruenwald, the widow of my old pal, Marvel editor Mark Gruenwald. The theater was mobbed outside that night because some sort of celebration was being held with a marching band in colonial garb, and then the start of the show was delayed ten minutes so then-mayor Rudy Giuliani could give a speech. I have no idea what he was talking about and I didn't that evening, either.
Still, the show was quite excellent. Brent Spiner was John Adams, Pat Hingle was Benjamin Franklin, Merwin Foard was Richard Henry Lee, Dashiell Eaves was the courier who sings "Mama Look Sharp," Michael Cumpsty was John Dickinson and Gregg Edelman was Rutledge. They were all terrific and I was especially impressed at how Mr. Foard stopped the show with the "Lees of Old Virginia" number. On a later trip, I saw him do the male lead in a revival of Kiss Me, Kate, wrote on some Internet forum that he was terrific in that too, and got a nice e-mailed note of thanks from him.
Everyone in it was very good and I recall the mounting feeling throughout the play that we didn't really know the ending and that it would turn out that they failed to pass the Declaration of Independence and birth the United States of America. The storytelling was that good.
A few months later, I was back in New York with my friend Carolyn and I took her to see it because I knew she'd enjoy it and I'd enjoy it again. Spiner had been replaced by Michael McCormick and Hingle by David Huddleston. The show was still great and again at intermission, I had the ominous feeling that the Declaration of Independence would never get adopted and there'd never be an America. Whenever I watch the movie, which is often, I'm still surprised when they pull it off.
So here's a reel of brief clips from some of the musical numbers starring the first cast. The video quality isn't great but trust me: The show was.