Ford’s Theatre Director Paul R. Tetreault has announced the cast and creative team for 1776, the Tony Award–winning musical that brings to life the debates surrounding the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The production will be presented on Ford’s historic stage during a milestone year as the nation commemorates its 250th birthday.
“There is no more fitting moment to welcome 1776 to our stage,” said Tetreault. “This production is for all Americans. Two hundred and fifty years later, the story of our founding is a reminder that this history belongs to all of us. The musical captures the courage, conflict, and conviction at the heart of America’s early history — core themes that align deeply with Ford’s Theatre’s commitment to exploring history through powerful storytelling.”
1776 offers a witty, incisive look at the people behind the nation’s founding, exploring the fierce disagreements, fragile alliances and bold ideals that shaped American democracy. With humor and urgency, the musical reminds audiences that independence was not inevitable — it was debated, fought for, and ultimately decided by imperfect individuals grappling with extraordinary responsibility.
Creative Team
Luis Salgado (Director/Choreographer): Broadway: In The Heights; Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown; ROCKY; On Your Feet!. National Tour: On Your Feet! The Musical–The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan. Regional: Stages: Aida; In The Heights; GALA Hispanic: On Your Feet! La historia de Emilio y Gloria Estefan ¡EN ESPAÑOL!; In The Heights (Helen Hayes Award Winner); Transcendence: Let’s Dance. Film & TV credits: American Gangster, Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights, Enchanted, and Step Up 2: The Streets (Alejandro), for which he also was assistant choreographer.
Clay Ostwald (Music Director): Broadway, USA Tour, London West End: On Your Feet! (Asst. MD, MD and Supervisor); Once Upon a One More Time (Keyboards). Regional: Jersey Boys, Hunter S. Thompson Musical, Back to the Future, and Little Shop of Horrors. Producer, keyboardist, and musical director for Gloria and Miami Sound Machine. American Music Award recipient and Grammy nominee for Producer of the Year.
The Cast and Musicians
The cast of 1776 includes Jonathan Atkinson as John Adams of Massachusetts; Peter Boyer as Joseph Hewes of North Carolina; Evan Casey as John Dickinson of Pennsylvania; Ricky DeVon Hall as a Leather Apron; John Floyd as Charles Thomson, Congressional Secretary; Jay Frisby as James Wilson of Pennsylvania; Steve Lebens as Caesar Rodney of Delaware; Jake Loewenthal as Thomas Jefferson of Virginia; Joe Mallon as Edward Rutledge of South Carolina; Buzz Mauro as George Read of Delaware; Jimmy Mavrikes as Robert Livingston of New York; Keenan McCarter as Roger Sherman of Connecticut; Christopher Mueller as Lewis Morris of New York; Justine “Icy” Moral as Martha Jefferson; Michael Perrie, Jr. as Richard Henry Lee of Virginia; Lawrence Redmond as Andrew McNair, Congressional Custodian; Keith Richards as Dr. Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire; Hunter Ringsmith as the Courier; Stephen F. Schmidt as Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island; Thomas Adrian Simpson as John Hancock, President; Tom Story as Dr. Lyman Hall of Georgia; Derrick D. Truby Jr. as Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania; Greg Twomey as Colonel Thomas McKean of Delaware; Douglas Ullman Jr. as Reverend John Witherspoon of New Jersey; Wood Van Meter as Samuel Chase of Maryland; and Kanysha Williams as Abigail Adams.
Swings include Quadry Brown, Ian Charles, and Brendon Schaefer.
Clay Ostwald will conduct a band that includes Manny Arciniega, Ben Bokor, Carroll “CV” Dashiell III, Jacob Kidder, Kyung LeBlanc, Kenny Rittenhouse, and Eliot Seppa.
The Designers
The creative team includes Scenic Designer Milagros Ponce de León (Ford’s: Into the Woods, Ragtime), Costume Designer Ivania Stack (Ford’s: Sister Act, Silent Sky), Lighting Designer Venus Gulbranson (Ford’s debut), Sound Designer David Budries (Ford’s: Sister Act, Little Shop of Horrors), Projection Designer Clint Allen (Ford’s: My Lord, What a Night, Into the Woods), Wig and Make-up Designer Kelley Jordan (Ford’s: Sister Act), Orchestrator Daniel Guttierez (Ford’s debut) and Dialects and Voice Director Rachel Hirshorn-Johnston (Ford’s: A Christmas Carol, Sister Act).
Craig A. Horness is the production stage manager, with Taryn Friend, Julia Singer and Jessica Hagy serving as assistant stage managers.
1776 runs March 13 – May 16, 2026, at Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St NW, Washington, DC 20004. Tickets range from $41-$100 and are available, along with showtimes, online.
Accessibility and Special Performances
Ford’s Theatre is committed to ensuring visitors of all abilities can experience the performances, exhibits, history and programs the site has to offer. Audio-described performances of 1776 are scheduled for April 9 at 7 p.m. and May 2 at 1 p.m. ASL sign-interpreted performances are scheduled for April 16 at 7 p.m. and May 9 at 1 p.m. A sensory-friendly performance is scheduled for April 25 at 1 p.m. Sensory-friendly experiences are intended for those who might benefit from a relaxed theatrical environment, including individuals with autism or other social, learning, or cognitive disabilities.
Beginning March 13, all performances will be captioned via the GalaPro Free Closed Captioning Mobile App. GalaPro is available from the App Store or Google Play and allows patrons to access captioning on demand through their phone or tablet device. Patrons can set their phones to airplane mode and connect to the local GalaPro WiFi network before the performance begins. More information at fords.org/visit-us/plan-your-visit/accessibility/galapro-captioning.
Free First Preview:
March 13, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
Ford’s Theatre partners with TodayTix to give out free tickets for the first performance of each mainstage production in our theatrical season. Tickets are available via the TodayTix app, beginning 10 a.m. ET on Monday, March 2 until Friday, March 6 for the March 13, 7:30 p.m. performance of 1776. Visit www.fords.org/free for lottery entry details.
Ford’s Education Events
New Classroom Resources to Teach America @250
Ford’s Theatre Education is excited to share brand-new classroom activities and lessons in celebration of America’s 250th! These activities invite students to learn about the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address to explore the meaning of freedom, America’s birthday, and how leaders like Lincoln and Douglass talked about the Fourth of July.
Individually tailored for elementary, middle, and high school classrooms, these materials come in a customizable Google Slides format that teachers can share directly with students or integrate into your preferred learning platform.
The new lesson plans are now live at Ford’s education resources page.
Student Matinee and Teacher Preview Workshop
The Teacher Preview Workshop for 1776 will be on March 13 at 5 p.m. Learn more and register here.
Anchored on the theme Collaboration, Ensemble and Democracy, during the workshop, classrooms will discover how the ensemble dynamics in 1776 serve as artistic representations of democratic collaboration. What if students didn’t just learn history — but were its architects? In this interactive workshop, teachers will experience a lesson that gets students looking closely, thinking critically, and writing with intention. With primary sources as their inspiration, students will work together to craft a new work that lends their unique voice to interpreting history.
Ford’s Theatre also offers weekday student matinees paired with educator lesson plans that deepen students’ understanding of theatre arts and the American experience. Ford’s productions connect directly to classroom learning and invite students to see the world — and themselves — through a new lens.
Ford’s Theatre Society
One of the most visited sites in the nation’s capital, Ford’s Theatre reopened its doors in 1968, more than a hundred years after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Operated through a partnership between Ford’s Theatre Society and the National Park Service, Ford’s Theatre is the premier destination in the nation’s capital to explore and celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s life and legacy.
Ford’s Theatre Society was founded under the guidance of executive producer Frankie Hewitt, who, during her 35-year tenure, established Ford’s as a living, working theater producing performances that highlighted the diversity of the American experience. Since the arrival of Paul R. Tetreault as Director, critics and the theatre-going public have recognized Ford’s for the superior quality of its artistic programming. With works from the Tony-nominated Come From Away and the nationally acclaimed Big River, to the world premieres of Meet John Doe, The Heavens Are Hung In Black, Liberty Smith, Necessary Sacrifices, The Widow Lincoln, The Guard, Grace and The American Five, Ford’s Theatre is making its mark on the American theater landscape. Under the current leadership of Board of Trustees Chairman Phebe N. Novakovic and through the lens of Lincoln’s leadership and legacy, Ford’s today endeavors to advance Lincoln’s “unfinished work” with programs and performances that cultivate empathy, encourage dialogue and bridge divides in American life.
