A new musical wants to shed light on a story of a Massachusetts man and how he helped the United States win the Revolutionary War.
The musical “For Love! For Liberty!” will debut at 52 Sumner Ave. in Springfield on Sunday, Jan. 18 at 1:30 and 4 p.m.
The show is about the noble train of artillery led by Henry “Harry” Knox, a Boston bookseller who brought 60 tons of captured British cannons from Fort Ticonderoga and hauled them over frozen lakes and snowy mountains en route to Boston in the winter of 1775-1776. It’s also about his devoted wife, Lucy Knox, who stands up to her Loyalist father to defend her love for her husband. The show is a show within a show, set in modern-day Springfield. The story is told to a group of middle school students on a field trip to the Springfield Armory National Historic Site.
Director Vana Nespor, founder of Springfield Community Theater of Massachusetts, wrote the story and lyrics for the show. Nespor said she was inspired to create “For Love! For Liberty!” when Kelly Fellner, superintendent of the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, invited 30 local organizations to work together to create events to celebrate Massachusetts 250, which honors the Revolutionary War battles in Massachusetts that led to Patriot victories that helped create the U.S. She and composer Clifton “Jerry” Noble began working together in October and had their first read-through for the show in November.
“I want [audiences] to go home whistling some of the songs, for sure,” Noble said. “Whoever you are, whether you’re Leonard Bernstein or Lin-Manuel Miranda, you want people to remember your music. I grew up with ‘Oklahoma’ and ‘Carousel’ and eventually ‘Sweeney Todd,’ which became my favorite musical of all time, and those songs are indelibly etched on anybody who’s ever seen the shows, and that’s what I’m aiming for.”
Nespor is originally from Oklahoma, so she’d never heard the story of Henry Knox before then, but she realized how much potential it had to make for a memorable show.
“What I realized was that at the heart of this story, we have a heroic event that saved our country’s revolution, made possible because of a passionate love story,” Nespor said in a statement. “Their story had everything musical theater needs: impossible odds, winter storms, stolen cannons, letters written by candlelight, sacrifice, humor and hope … and love. I found it an epic journey, powered not by gunpowder or a chance for glory, but by courage, partnership and belief.”
Nespor added, “The musical theater art form is so uniquely American. It allows us to deal with really difficult stories, sad, serious, terrifying history, such as Nazi Germany in ‘Cabaret,’ or how our all-too-human weaknesses and strengths can lead to our downfall, no matter how brilliant we are, such as in ‘Hamilton.’”
Incidentally, this is not Henry Knox’s first time mentioned in a “Hamilton” context — he’s name-dropped in the “Hamilton” track “Right Hand Man” as someone who wanted to hire Alexander Hamilton, albeit as his secretary.
“It certainly is a tale of insurmountable odds and one of daring and absolute defiance of of unjust rule, and I think that’s why it fits into the picture of history so, so beautifully,” Noble said.
The production features a team of 40 people, including 20 actors ranging in age from 10 to 76, who come from across western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut.
“They really see this as a chance to celebrate our country’s birthday and to be together as a community, creating something that’ll bring joy,” Nespor said.
Initially, the show was just about Henry Knox, but Nespor wanted to refocus it to be about the love between Henry and Lucy, which was just as foundational to Henry’s motivation as his love for the Patriot cause. Lucy’s devotion to her husband is so strong that she stands up to her Loyalist father, who tells her, “If you quit this house for that man today, you forfeit your dowry, your name, and your kin. You shall have no inheritance, no claim upon me, nor any place in this family!”
Despite this, Lucy stands strong in her love for Henry and the Revolutionary cause, telling her father in a song, “I’ll face the coming storm / I’ll lift up all his cares / I am the woman who dares / stand beside him!” When Henry is off stealing the cannons, she keeps up his spirits by sending lots of letters — and cake.
In any case, Nespor wanted to make sure that she gave Lucy’s story — as well as the stories of other Revolutionary women — the attention it deserved.
“Of course, I had to have women in it, and I had to talk about the women in the Revolution who get overlooked,” Nespor said, “so Lucy was the perfect candidate.”
In one scene, a few of the girls ask about the women of the Revolution — “Where are the stories about them?” wonders a girl named Emma. Her teacher, Mrs. Sullivan, replies, “For every man who carried a musket, there were hundreds behind the battles who tipped the balance with their words and deeds.” She and the character Bella, who portrays Lucy in the play’s show-within-a-show, name-drops a number of women from the Revolutionary War, including Abigail Adams, Mercy Warren, Phyllis Wheatley, Margaret Corbin, Lydia Darragh, and more.
When asked what she wanted audiences to take away from the show, Nespor said, “I want them to realize that our history is really important, especially now, and we need to pay attention to it. We need to take our children and get them excited about it. … We need to celebrate our heroes, even if they are terribly flawed, and we need to stand up for our republic and our democracy.”
Tickets to “For Love! For Liberty!” are $10 for children and $19 for adults via Eventbrite. The musical runs about 90 minutes with an intermission.