It seems that John Adams is the Man of the Hour, what with HBO’s current — and splendid — adaptation of David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, and Mark Goodney plays him here with an engaging blend of pugnacious rectitude and pensive charm. When he isn’t battling opponents of a Declaration of Independence, foreshadowed by the rousing opening song, “For God’s Sake, John, Sit Down!”, there are quietly moving epistolary exchanges with his wife, Abigail (beautifully acted and sung by Lydian DeVere), that lend credence to the axiom that behind every great man there is a great woman. Goodney and DeVere offer touching and humorous repose on “Till Then” and “Yours, Yours, Yours.” Tom Weber cavorts his way through the role of Ben Franklin with low key mugging, crafty benevolence and dry retort. He’s easily the most pragmatic of this impassioned group of statesmen, the one who seems to know what it will take to hammer out a document chiseled with acceptable integrity and compromise. It’s fun to watch Weber’s wise old Franklin try to calm Goodney’s roiled Adams. Roger Brunelle defines Thomas Jefferson with an amusing blend of reluctance, desperation, and elation, joining Goodney and Weber on “The Egg,” a spry play on words about the birth of our nation. Not the most verbal of men, Jefferson’s genius for written exposition is undermined by his need to “be” with his wife Martha, a condition even the normally recalcitrant Adams realizes needs to be addressed to move things along. Michelle Marguilies underlines Mrs. Jefferson with more than a touch of sexual connotation on the playfully symbolic “He Plays the Violin.” But, lest we forget, this is a musical about serious matters indeed, and it may have more stretches of pure dialogue than any other musical ever made, allowing the congressional debate room to air its clash of wills. Along with the banter and wit is plenty of vitrol. Franklin’s fellow delegate from Pennsylvania, John Dickinson, leads the opposition to severing ties with Mother England. Thomas Sullivan turns in a fastidious performance as Dickinson, imperious in manner, fearful of upending the status quo and changing the course of human history, preferring to live under the ruling thumb of King George. His singing effort on the droll “Cool, Cool, Considerate Men” is just so-so, but it does little to diminish the overall excellence of his acting. Victor Kruczynski Jr. is Southern gentility on crack as Richard Henry Lee, gloriously grandstanding his way through the crowd pleasing “The Lees of Virginia.” Other standouts include Dennis Metro’s raucous turn as Stephen Hawkins, the delegate from Rhode Island, Ed Savage’s stalwart John Hancock, and Rob Lynds’ steadying Charles Thompson. Issac Swanson, as the Courier, sings the elegiac “Momma, Look Sharp” with dazed and battered emotion. The most electrifying moments, though, belong to Todd Yard’s brilliantly excoriating rendition of “Molasses to Rum”, a seething rebuttal to Adams about the hypocrisy of the slave trade. Yard sings and acts with an intensity that is scary and haunting to behold. A nod of approval to Richard Monroe’s economically expressive orchestra, Dennis Metro’s austere set, and JoAnn Savage’s elegant costumes. Don’t abstain from attending this one. |
