Channelling my inner John Adams

In both 2000 and again in 2006, I had the pleasure and privilege of playing John Adams in the wonderful musical/drama "1776," performed at the Willows Theatre in Concord, California. Although I had been in the show once before in the mid-80's, at that time I was cast as Adams' nemesis, the conservative stalwart, John Dickinson.

For those who don't know the show, or the history: the Second Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia during the spring and summer of 1776 to address the colonists' grievances with Great Britain. In the Congress, John Adams (one of the representatives from the colony of Massachusetts) was the leader of the faction of colonial representatives favoring complete independence from Great Britain, while John Dickinson of Pennsylvania led those representatives who hoped somehow to reconcile with the mother country in a completely peaceful and harmonious way. You'll never guess how it turned out.

Anyway, performing Dickinson was great fun. It allowed me to channel up every image I had of the pompous, priggish, self-righteous, arrogant right-wingers of my, um, acquaintance, and conjure that composite image up on stage. In order to make the character believable and real, I simply tapped into my own deep well of anglophilia to create the right mix.

Performing Adams was something else entirely. It was (is) almost too easy for me to inhabit this character. Adams is constantly referred to as being "obnoxious and disliked" by his colleagues, on account of the fervency of his relatively radical views, the intensity with which he advocates those views to others, and his inability (or unwillingness) to smooth the rough edges of his personality with suavity and social decorum. As one of my best friends likes to point out, in performing John Adams I don't seem to be acting a part so much as just being myself on stage.

The observation seems to me to be pretty accurate. For the past going-on-eight years, I have experienced a constantly seething and barely containable anger over the incredible, daily outrages of the George W. Bush regime. I can say without hesitation that the theft of the election of 2000 by the right wing was the most catastrophic historical event to occur in my life time. At present, I am still unable to perceive a single positive thing to have emerged from this catastrophe. In my state of constant frustration and anger at the political situation of my beloved country, I feel a deep kinship with John Adams, who lived through similarly dark times of misrule and felt similar anger and frustration as a result. On the more positive side, I am blessed to have my own Abigail at home -- a life partner, wife, lover, dearest friend, who doesn't hesitate to tell me what for and put me in my place when I need it.

Unfortunately, I don't need my Abigail (her name is actually Judy) to remind me that my private rants about Bush, Cheney and the rest are of no positive benefit, and instead are actually bad for my own health and the sanity of my loved ones. This blog represents a modest attempt to do something marginally more positive about the situation in which we find ourselves. Let us celebrate the blessed constitutional right of free speech, one of the greatest gifts of J. Adams and his colleagues, the Jeffersons, Washingtons, Franklins and others. God, how I love those guys (and gals). Let's make sure Bush & Co. don't rob us of this right before they finally leave office.

This is my first blog post. I don't know how often I'll add my raves and rants to this space, but in doing so, I will endeavor to present my unashamedly liberal viewpoint with all the passion and at least some of the persuasiveness of John Adams. And while politics is my obsession, I intend to suppress it from time so I can talk about the more wonderful things in life -- things like great music, art, literature, food, and all that good stuff.