Patriotism, music and comedy light up the indoor Randall Theatre

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jul 4, 2003 by Ivan M. Lincoln Deseret Morning News

CEDAR CITY -- If there's a central theme in this season's Utah Shakespearean Festival productions in the Randall L. Jones Theatre, it's freedom -- mostly of the red, white and blue variety.

That's especially true of "1776," which focuses squarely on the founding of the United States of America. But there's also "Born Yesterday," about a young woman's newfound knowledge, and "The Servant of Two Masters." which touches on a hapless Italian servant's freedom from poverty when he becomes employed by two masters.

1776, 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays, 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays; running time: two hours, 45 minutes (one intermission).

This Tony Award-winning musical by Peter Stone and composer/ lyricist Sherman Edwards, is packed with energy and patriotism. There was an instant standing ovation at the conclusion of the show's opening matinee last week, a hint that this could be as big as was "Man of La Mancha" in 2002.

"1776" is a celebration of the United States of America's somewhat rocky formation during three hot, humid months in Philadelphia. Like the chariot race in "Ben-Hur," we're all aware of the outcome, as the delegates to the Second Continental Congress wrangle over whether to formally declare independence from Great Britain's tyrannical King George III. But the finale is still suspenseful as the tallies are totaled.

With well-paced direction and sharp choreography by Brad Carroll, augmented by R. Eric Stone's scenery, David K. Mickelson's meticulous costumes and Darryl W. Archibald's pit orchestra, this is a flag- waving triumph.

Carroll has a large, well-honed cast, and there are plenty of stand-out performances:

-- Kurt Ziskie and Victoria Adams, who are married in real life and display great chemistry onstage, play John Adams, the admittedly "obnoxious and disliked" delegate from Massachusetts, and his lonely wife Abigail, who maintains hearth and home on the family farm.

-- The candidly outspoken Benjamin Franklin is nicely played by Peter Sham, with Jason Heil as the reluctant framer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, and Arthur Miranda Lazalde as the charismatic Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.

-- Over the past several years, USF fans have probably come to think of Brian Vaughn as a consummate comedian, but much of his early training (in Cedar City) was in musical theater. He does a show- stopping turn as firebrand Edward Rutledge in "Molasses to Rum," about the controversial issue of slavery (ultimately deleted from the Declaration of Independence).

Just as the festival's Shakespearean plays demonstrate how little society has changed in the past 400 years, "1776" shows us that Congress hasn't changed much over the past 227. There are months of haggling and compromise behind every issue. (At least, today, there is air conditioning.)

Despite the serious matters at hand, there is quite a bit of humor, much of it in the wonderful lyrics. Adams rails about nothing getting solved "in foggy, filthy Philadelphia" . . . pleads with his wife for "saltpetre for gunpowder" . . . Martha Jefferson delights Franklin and Adams about her husband's skill at playing the violin . . . Franklin, Adams and Jefferson debate the choice of a national bird . . . and John Dickinson (Phil Hubbard) leads the minuet of the "cool, considerate set" of conservatives.

There is poignant drama, too, when Gen. Washington's courier (Kevin Kiler) sings of death on the battlefront in "Mamma Look Sharp."

BORN YESTERDAY, 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays, 8 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays; running time: two hours, 35 minutes (one intermission).

This Broadway classic dovetails perfectly with "1776." Set in Washington, D.C., in 1946, it focuses on a quick-tempered junk dealer who is up to his neck in congressional bribery, and on his nave, uneducated girlfriend.

It's a tour de farce for Anne Newhall, who is perfectly cast as Billie Dawn, a rough-around-the-edges former chorus girl, constantly being berated (or worse -- slapped around) by her longtime lover, Harry Brock.

Sensing that her unpolished demeanor could be a detriment to his activities in Washington, Brock pulls off yet another con job -- he talks investigative reporter Paul Verrall into tackling the Pygmalianesque task of educating Billie.

It works far too well.

By the time Act 2 rolls around, Billie is devouring books, magazines, newspapers, dutifully circling phrases she doesn't understand and flipping through the pages of her well-worn dictionary. In the process, she becomes Brock's personal version of the Frankenstein monster -- all her newfound knowledge threatens to turn his devious schemes upside-down.

The cast also includes Kurt Ziskie as reporter Verrall, Craig Spidle as the disreputable junk dealer, A. Bryan Humphrey as somewhat shady attorney Ed Devery, and Richard Kinter and Leslie Brott as Senator and Mrs. Hedges -- all key players in a first-rate ensemble.

The material itself may be a little dated, but life -- and political skullduggery -- hasn't changed all that much in Washington, D.C., in the past six decades.