Birth of a Nation, in Song

“1776,” the congressional tuner born in the Age of Aquarius, “Easy Rider” and Early Nixon, is an awfully familiar show to be popping up under the Reprise! banner.

Like its New York inspiration--the Encores! series--Reprise! makes the best use of its resources when revisiting musical theater scores we haven’t heard lately, or often. I’m not saying it should be “Carnival in Flanders” or nothing. But too many overexposed Broadway titles, over time, may spoil the broth.

The familiarity question would matter less with “1776” (1969) if the production ranked high among Reprise!’s recent efforts. It doesn’t. It’s not bad, but the enterprise feels dutiful. In the end, despite Sherman Edwards’ prettier melodies, you’re stuck with Peter Stone’s filibuster of a libretto.

Roger Rees, whose jaw is a true-blue 18th century model, essays the role of John Adams, Boston’s resident prim upstart. Rees works hard, very hard, attempting to hurdle his vocal limitations, often racing musical director Peter Matz’s tempos--and winning, therefore losing. Rees needs to relax more. The show can take only so much salesmanship; it’s built into Stone’s book to begin with.

Adams and his colleague Benjamin Franklin (Orson Bean, adorable in ways he might consider moderating a tad) enlist their tight-lipped ally Thomas Jefferson (Thomas Ian Griffith) in the service of drafting the Declaration. First, though, comes intercourse. Adams sends for Jefferson’s wife, Martha (Bets Malone, a first-rate musical theater talent), who sings “He Plays the Violin” and praises Tom’s bowing technique. Adams, meantime, misses his own wife, Abigail (Marcia Mitzman Gaven, doing fine work with a noble cliche), who offers comfort via letters across the miles.

Many people love this show. They go for Stone’s running gags, and they’re stirred by his evocation of those hot Philadelphia days when the colonies’ representatives hashed out the question of revolution, destiny and the Declaration of Independence. The late, lamented Pauline Kael wasn’t one of those people.

Reviewing the film version, she nailed the material’s “insulting dumb, crusty jocularity,” and wrote that the show’s take on the Founding Fathers was “shameless: first it exploits them as clodhopping fools, and then it turns pious and reverential, asking us to see that their compromise on the issue of slavery may look like a sellout but was the only way to win the unity needed to break away from England.”

I’d go with that, though like most love-it-or-hate-it prospects, “1776” leaves me in the middle. Composer and lyricist Edwards, a former history teacher, had a genuine gift for approachable, hummable melody.

In its shape and pacing, however, this musical always was a little odd. “The Lees of Old Virginia,” sung by Richard Henry Lee (John Scherer, good, lately in the Ahmanson’s “3hree”), is a showstopper that comes in Act 1, Scene 2, which technically makes it more of a show-starter.

“Molasses to Rum,” sung by South Carolina slimeball Edward Rutledge (Kevin Earley, easily the show’s vocal standout), flies past any boundaries of dramatic sense. In and among Stone’s elbow-ribbers, it’s hard to stomach Rutledge’s turn, with its fake African rhythmic overlay and slave auction vibe.

Some sharp supporting performances bolster director Gordon Hunt’s staging. Larry Cedar, in the nothing role of Charles Thomson, is this production’s low-key ringer. Without a speck of sweat, he lends a sense of import to proceedings that were, in fact, verifiably important. The cast’s musical standouts may be Earley, Gaven, Malone and Griffith, but Cedar cuts through the loooong book scene’s more crapulent elements by reading his lines cleanly, eloquently, with a measure of tact.

Such virtues don’t usually mean much in a Broadway musical, but with this one: Bring it on.

*

“1776,” Reprise! Broadway’s Best, Freud Playhouse, Macgowan Hall, UCLA near Sunset Boulevard at Hilgard Avenue, Westwood. Parking in UCLA Lot 3. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends Sept. 16. $55-$60. (310) 825-2101 or (213) 365-3500. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.

Roger Rees: John Adams

Orson Bean: Benjamin Franklin

Thomas Ian Griffith: Thomas Jefferson

Marcia Mitzman Gaven: Abigail Adams

Bets Malone: Martha Jefferson

Francis Guinan: John Hancock

John Scherer: Richard Henry Lee

Kevin Earley: Edward Rutledge

Mark Ryan: John Dickinson

Gibby Brand: James Wilson

Chad Brannon: Courier

Hamilton Camp: Andrew McNair

Larry Cedar: Charles Thomson

Robert Alan Clink: Robert Livingston

Robert Pike Daniel: Col. Thomas McKean

Paul Green: Leather Apron

Nicholas Hormann: Dr. Lyman Hall

William Dennis Hunt: Stephen Hopkins

Richard Israel: Roger Sherman

Jack Laufer: Louis Morris

Matthew McCray: George Read

Robert Noble: Joseph Hewes

Patrick O’Connor: Rev. John Witherspoon

Stuart Pankin: Samuel Chase

Robert Towers: Caesar Rodney

Stephen Van Dorn: Dr. Josiah Bartlett

*

Music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards. Book by Peter Stone. Directed by Gordon Hunt. Musical director Peter Matz. Choreographer Kay Cole. Scenic design by Gary Wissmann. Costumes by Scott A. Lane. Lighting by Tom Ruzika. Sound by Philip G. Allen. Production stage manager Jill Gold.