Lenox — On December 16, 1773, 250 years ago, the political organization Sons of Liberty held a protest in Boston against the Tea Act. The act, passed by the British Parliament in May 1773, allowed a monopoly over tea sales for the East India Company.
The protest consisted of colonists and members of the organization boarding ships carrying shipments of tea chests from the company and throwing the chests into Boston Harbor. The protest has become known throughout history as the Boston Tea Party.
Over 250 years later, a new musical about the Boston Tea Party, “Rebel Town,” will be debuting at the Duffin Theater in Lenox. The musical is written and composed by Berkshire County native John Alan Segalla.
The musical begins at a town meeting three days before the Boston Tea Party, during which Sam Adams rallies attendees to confront the three ships docked in Boston Harbor carrying East India Company’s tea. “Rebel Town” goes on to show the struggles and defiance of the colonists against British rule. Other historical characters portrayed in the musical include John Hancock, Paul Revere, Mercy Otis Warren, Sarah Grey, and Abigail Slater.
“Everything we’re doing for the show is super authentic regarding reenacting this era,” Segalla told The Berkshire Edge. “We have very authentic-looking 18th-century costumes and a set. At the heart of our musical is an educational component, and that is that 18th-century history is really at the core of Massachusetts and New England.”
Segalla said that the era “strikes [his] heart” and that he previously worked in reenactments in Boston. “Working in reenactments is how I fell in love with the Boston Tea Party story,” Segalla said. “The wharves at Boston Harbor is where all the action for the musical is centered. There are three ships stationed at Boston Harbor, and the fate of these ships is undetermined. Will they be unloaded? Will the tea be sent back to England peacefully? Or, will they dump the tea?”
In terms of music, Segalla said that the songs are like “‘Guys and Dolls’ meets ‘1776’ in terms of flavor.” “We’re a family musical, and the show is a lot of fun,” Segalla said. “There are 28 musical numbers in the two-hour-and-15-minute musical, along with an intermission. Rather than putting a contemporary sound to history like ‘Hamilton’ did, I created the music where the songs are how they would have sounded in 1773. The whole idea was to drop into the world that they were in and then add music to it.”
The cast of 14 in “Rebel Town” includes actor Gabriel Winkler as John Hancock. “Playing John Hancock has been a history lesson to me,” Winkler said. “Usually, an older actor would be playing John Hancock. But in being a younger actor, I get to learn more about what it means to be not just a historical role model for those around you but to be such a powerful figure for thousands of people who are relying heavily on you. I’ve gotten a lot of feelings of responsibility playing John Hancock, and a lot of satisfaction portraying one of my hometown’s biggest heroes, as I am a Bostonian myself.”
Actor Alex Burnett plays multiple roles in the musical, including Lieutenant Colonel Leslie, a blacksmith, a fruit monger, and a member of the Sons of Liberty. “It’s fun to play these roles because I get to have all these different perspectives of what was going on at the time,” Burnett said. “Lieutenant Colonel Leslie’s attitude towards the protests is that he’s so above it all. But the other roles are so into the protests.”
Actress Lauren Schultes plays Mercy Otis Warren, who was a political playwright. “She was America’s first female historian,” Schultes said. “Mercy Otis Warren is not very well known by many people, but she was the best example of a modern-day woman and feminist of that time. She was born in West Barnstable, and there’s a statue of her there. She played a critical role in the Boston Tea Party where she was able to influence different political leaders and also the common people through her satirical writings.”
Segalla said the Boston Tea Party is still influential even 250 years later. “The whole heart of the show is the theme of the preservation and protection of liberty for everyone,” Segalla said. “While the colonial mindset of this time had its fair share of complications, in today’s society we are still pushing for equality for all people. That was at the heart of what was going on with the Tea Party with the realization that they would not be governed by tyranny. So why is it still relevant today? I think there’s a lot of corrupt stuff happening continuously, and we need to have the people voicing together, peacefully protesting these things. The Tea Party was a peaceful protest, and a lot of people don’t realize that my goal with this show is also to educate people about the way the Tea Party occurred. They weren’t out there rabble-rousing on those ships and hitting people over the head with clubs and taking over. They got in there systematically, and they destroyed the tea in three hours. So if people pull anything from this show, it’s to realize that we can do things peacefully. We can send a message there that there will likely be consequences no matter what we do. But we can do things peacefully, and we can, we can organize.”
The first performance of Rebel Town will take place on Friday, August 9, at 7 p.m., and subsequent shows will run through Sunday, August 18. For showtimes and tickets, go to the show’s website.
