honorable

[2eclipse]

it's official.

my absolutely FAVORITE thing about my new job is that i e-mail back and forth with people who address me as "anderson san."

susan and i saw 1776 last night at the guthrie.
it was different than i thought it would be. the music was less traditional (a lot of intentional discord and odd rhythms used)and there was both more and less depth than i hoped in dealing with the issues of the negotiations around the signing of the declaration of independence. i wish they hadn't felt the need to whitewash much of the slavery issue, making it seem like the south wanted it and the north didn't. it was a much more grey issue at the time, even though eventually those positions were taken. there was more depth and time given to the issue of soldiers dying in the war than i thought there would be, and i thought they did a great job with that. the political bickering was delightful, if you can imagine it!. these issues are matters of script-writing more than they are a reflection on the performance, however. in all cases, i thought the cast and production staff did as much as they could with what they had.
there was also a wonderful john adams quote, "there are only two kinds of people who are worth anything; those who value commitment and those who require commitment." very nice. when ben franklin's quote about those who sacrifice liberty for the sake of security deserving neither there was spontaneous applause from the audience. it seems to be a sentiment that rings true for most people these days. the acting was great and it was a VERY funny musical. the only thing that really disappointed me was the choreography. about half of the dance scenes seemed forced and un-natural.

Comments

[lucifermourning.livejournal.com]

re: the slavery issue - i assume they did keep the "molasses to rum to slaves" song? whilst they do take pretty basic north/south sides over slavery, i do love the way that song points out the north's complicity, despite their anti-slavery stance.

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

they did keep the song - the hypocracy it pointed out is the only thing that kept it from seeming that the south was "bad" and the north was "good!"

but the hypocracy of the north profiting from slavery is only the beginning of how complicated that issue was. many northerners DID keep slaves, and more sided with the south on the issue.
they showed jeffereson with abolitionist sentiments and there were many like him. but they were unable to capture the idea that the way of life in the colonial south was a beautiful rich way of life. i am glad slavery was abolished - it was too high a price for the preservation of a culture and an unspeakable evil inflicted on a people, but i also mourn for what was lost.

[lucifermourning.livejournal.com]

that's fair enough. i think i am just willing to give it leeway as it is a musical, not a historical count, and loads of stuff is simplified and dramatized. if they'd tried to really explore slavery it would have been a different play, and not the fairly lighthearted one it is.

i think that the touching on slavery always felt to more as though they felt it necessary to include, and to try to be honest about, but didn't really want to go into.