Stage Company of Poplar Bluff---"1776"! TICKETS n' TIMES
In their stunning production of 1776, which opened last night at the Rodgers Theater, The Stage Company of Poplar Bluff delivers the goods with robust humor, fine music, and lavish attention to period detail. Not since last summer’s well-received Chicago, another demanding musical known for its large cast, has the Company attempted a production of such scope and logistical difficulty. But under the direction of Stage Company veteran Ron Gilliland—also at the helm for Chicago—1776 is an assured, smart, and often boisterous delight. Don’t flee in terror upon discovering that it’s thought-provoking, too.
While license has been exercised by the play’s creators in fleshing out some detail, order of events, and chronology, the work still stands as a lively and gripping depiction of the personalities and issues at the core of the drive for U.S. independence.
The Stage Company treatment, in a word, sparkles. The clean, Early-American-inspired set 
design; elaborate hand-made colonial costumes; and the passionate, sometimes poignant portrayal of the play’s main focus—colonial movement toward a radical break with the English crown—these all make for the kind of satisfying evening the Company has been successfully staging for years in this community. Throw in spirited production numbers, a fainting spell, assorted threats to life and limb, an impromptu all-male minuet, and a lip-lock worthy of Guinness-Book honors (part of a sure-fire cure for Jeffersonian Writer’s Block, if you must know)…All that’s missing from this picture is the popcorn and the soda pop.
But if the past is any indication, the Company’s got you covered there, too!
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Coming up: “1776”: A Closer Look!
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“1776”, the Tony-Award-winning musical. Music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards; Book by Peter Stone.
Directed by Ron Gilliland. Performed by the Stage Company of Poplar Bluff at the historic Rodgers Theater, located at the corner of Pine and Broadway Streets, Poplar Bluff.
Set Design: Ron Gilliland; Set Construction and Flourishes: Darrell Taylor and Jim Davidson.
Chief Costumers: Roger Martin and Jonann Martin.
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TICKET PRICES:
$9 for adults; $7 for children 12 and under. Tickets available at the door.
SHOW TIMES:
Friday March 7 and Saturday March 8 at 7:00 p.m.
Friday March 14 and Saturday March 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday March 16, 2:00 p.m.
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