History and Music Meet in Spring Play

It was a rousing, patriotic experience at this year's spring play. The seminarians of Sacred Heart performed 1776, a Broadway musical based on the events and the colorful characters surrounding the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The dates of the performances were Friday, March 21, with two performances on Saturday, March 22, to accommodate the ever-increasing attendance at these annual productions (this is the fifth in a row after a twenty-year break).

1776 was held in Sacred Heart's vintage 500-seat auditorium, with attendance for the weekend at around 1,300practically a full house for each performance. No tickets were required but the seminarians accepted freewill donations. They will apply the funds to replacing outdated stage equipment, including purchasing new curtains.

Seminarian—forty in allplayed all the parts of 1776 except one, that of Abigail Adams, performed by Grace Knoche (she played one of the two female parts in last year's production of Oliver!, too. Thank you, Grace!) The men really came together as a team to handle the direction, scenery construction, light board operation, publicity, videography, and ushering. They even played some of the orchestra instruments.

Director Brian Meldrum and assistant director Matthew Hood gave the performance a fun, new interpretation. They devised an elaborate lighting plot for the Independence Hall setting and constructed five podiums as unique stage props to adapt the musical to the limitations of the stage dimensions.

Countless hours and many hands went into the production of 1776, says Meldrum. Speaking for the entire cast and crew, he believes from all of this, we have received countless blessings and many, many graces.

Do you have a heart for the theater? Would you like to help the seminarians upgrade their stage equipment? Give Maria Jerome of Sacred Heart's development office a call, 313-883-8559 or jerome.maria@aod.org.