LONG BEACH - Musical Theatre West has announced the cast of its upcoming production of "1776," running July 9-25 at the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.The cast includes Steven Glaudini, who will reprise his 2004 Ovation Award-winning role as John Adams; Steve Vinovich as Benjamin Franklin; John Bisom as Thomas Jefferson; Andy Umberger as John Dickinson; Tami Tappan Damiano as Abigail Adams; and Robert Townsend as Edward Rutledge. In addition, Davis Gaines will play the role of Richard Henry Lee. Gaines performed the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" more than 2,000 times for more than 5 million people during his run on Broadway, in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where he received the Bay Area Critics' Award for Best Actor. He was also featured in the recent production of Jason Robert Brown's "Parade" at the Mark Taper Forum. "1776" is under the helm of Ovation Award-winning director Nick DeGruccio. The play premiered on Broadway in 1969 and is based on the events leading up to the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence. John Adams, disliked by many in Congress, joins with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson to bring forward a resolution for independence that will eventually set America free from England's tyranny. Tickets for "1776" are now available and can be purchased through the MTW box office at (562) 856-1999, ext. 4, or at www.musical.org.

********** Published: June 17, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 9