Ben Varkentine is the latest of several to ask what I think of the announcement that a new TV-Movie is to be produced of one of my favorite musicals and movies, 1776. Answer: I don't know what I think. I suppose it depends on how well it's done. The 1972 movie was apparently an utterly faithful version of the original Broadway show, and it's wonderful. But one of the great things about theater is that shows are open to reinterpretation. Ethel Merman was said to have given one of the all-time classic performances when she played Momma Rose in Gypsy, but that didn't preclude Angela Lansbury from doing a version that many preferred. Other versions have not been without value. It is certainly not inconceivable that a new version of 1776 might be wonderful on its own terms.
Which is not to say I'm over-optimistic. The whole show runs about three hours. If, as one might expect, they try to do it in a two-hour slot with commercial breaks, that will mean cutting almost half the show. I have no idea how that could be done and still keep the wonderful way in which the obstacles to the Declaration of Independence are slowly chipped away, one after the other. The casting will presumably require "names" and no star leaps to mind as ideal to play John Adams. I'd love to see Kelsey Grammer play John Dickinson but even if they could afford him and he could find the time, it's still a supporting role. Some of the Internet discussion groups that talk of musicals are already assuming it'll be Victor Garber in one of those two roles, and I would imagine he could be very good.
But who knows? Some in those groups are already writing off the whole project as a disaster before one bit of casting has even been announced. I think it would be nice if we waited until they actually make the film before we review it. I'm certainly willing to enjoy a new version.
With one caveat. Most of these TV-musicals are filmed in Canada. I really think it would be a shame if the story of how the United States of America was founded was filmed anywhere but in the good ol' U.S. of A.