"1776" cast pays homage to founding fathers and modern America through costume designs coming to Denver Center for the Performing Arts
The tour of "1776" the Musical is returning to Denver next week with a renewed approach to casting the historic characters involved with drafting the Declaration of Independence. 1776 is playing the Buell Theater for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts starting March 21st, and before their visit to Denver the cast gave CBS News Colorado an exclusive behind the scenes tour of their operation to show how the costume design in the production adapted to the new unique cast.
Unlike previous tours of 1776, historic characters such as Benjamin Franklin and John Adams are now being played by women, transgender individuals and other members of the LGBTQ+ community instead of the traditional casting of white men.
The decision to cast that way was intentional, giving modern America better representation in a historical story. Now, diverse backgrounds that were not represented in the makeup of the founding fathers can still tell the facts of the drafting of the declaration while also putting their own perspective of the actions into their characters.
The costume designers for 1776 were tasked with finding a way to still keep the historical look of the era in the costumes while also putting modern twists that also represent the actresses today.
"It feels good to be sitting in some slacks," Liz Mikel said as she laughed.
Mikel portrays Benjamin Franklin in the production.
"Playing a man, y'all have it so much more easier than we do," Mikel said. "I have be corseted within an inch of my life in some of these (other) plays."
The cast of 1776 welcomed CBS Colorado's Dillon Thomas to an advanced preview of their production while it was showing in Chicago. They took CBS behind the scenes of their production as they got ready for a show in their dressing rooms.
The team worked diligently to put on their makeup, wigs and more to prepare for the performance. The cast does not wear the traditional white wigs you may expect to see the founding fathers wear. Instead they are able to dress a little more like they would any given day as themselves.
Nancy Anderson, who portrays Thomas Jefferson in the production, pointed out many details in the costume design and production that pay homage to the past, present and future.
"We go on stage in our modern shoes" Anderson said, noting she wears modern boots as the show begins.
However, within minutes of the show starting Anderson and her peers are seen stepping out of their modern-day shoes, throwing them to the side, and then stepping into older looking shoes. The act is to symbolically show they are now stepping modern America into the past.
"We don't just strip off who we are and try to embody them," Mikel said. "Our costumes are also based partially on our personalities."
While the cast is still wearing heaving traditional-looking jackets as they portray the founding fathers, each jacket was also designed to bring a modern flare to it. The cast was also encouraged to carry parts of themselves in the characters through their wardrobe.
Anderson, for example, wears her real wedding ring on stage to represent that Jefferson was married as well. In most other shows an actress would be asked to put on a ring given by the production.
Mikel said she also displays her personality on stage through her wardrobe as well.
"So, you can see my nails and we wear our makeup and adornment, earrings and jewelry and things. We bring a part of ourselves to these characters," Mikel said.
The cast is also able to quickly and seamlessly transition their costumes into colonial times by adjusting their socks. What at first appears to be leggings with normal socks is then quickly transitioned into 1776 fashion as the cast pulls their white socks up to their knees in front of the audience.
The cast told Thomas they enjoyed that the production gave them to make their costumes adaptable yet still true to the time.
Much like how the Declaration of Independence is considered a living document, the cast said they wanted the story behind their costumes and appearances on stage to also have a life of their own.
"With these new costumes we are modern day people. We are people of all gender identities, of all colors, coming together and telling our origin story as if it felt like it was today," Anderson said. "Our hope is that people come and see the show and they can truly see themselves on stage and not feel distanced by the costume design, but feel like they are part of it."
1776 is only playing the Buell March 21st through April 2nd. Tickets can be found at denvercenter.org.
CBS Colorado is a proud sponsor of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
