By TR Robertson
The friendship that developed, during perhaps the most turbulent time in American History, between two apparently dissimilar individuals has been brought to the stage in a new musical, “3 Summers of Lincoln”, at the La Jolla Playhouse. The musical covers some of the events in the life of United States President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass between the years 1862-1864. This riveting, powerful musical features two superb performances by Ivan Hernandez as Abraham Lincoln and Quentin Earl Darrington as Frederick Douglass and an amazing cast. The musical is inspired by a book by Joe DiPietro, Lyrics by Daniel J. Watts and Joe DiPietro, Music by Crystal Monee Hall and Choreography by Jon Rua and Daiel J. Watts. The Director is Christopher Ashley, in his final year as the Artistic Director of the La Jolla Playhouse.
Lincoln had become the 16th President of the United States on March 4, 1861. A little over one month later, the Civil War began with the shelling of Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Thrown right into trying to pull a divided nation back together, Lincoln felt it would just be a 90-day conflict, and the country would see they didn’t want a full-scale war. “3 Summers of Lincoln” begins with a tap dancer taping out Morse Code, projected on the backdrop, indicating the war is in day 430 with no end in sight. The talented tap dancer is Evan Ruggiero, playing a Union soldier with an amputated left leg. Ruggiero lost his leg to cancer. The Lincoln we first see in Act I is frustrated, having a difficult time understanding why the Commander of the Union Army he appointed, General George B. McClellan, had not already resolved the conflict. Ivan Hernandez has an uncanny resemblance to President Lincoln. He also has a strong singing voice, and his mannerisms draw you into believing you are watching the real Lincoln on stage. Playing General McClellan is Eric Anderson and bringing a bit of humor to the musical as the pompous, arrogant McClellan who had little, if any, successes on the battlefield and was removed after one year as the leader of the Union troops. He stands out on songs like “Sent by God” and “Antietam”.
Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave named Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey who escaped in 1838, heading north, first to Rochester, New York, then to Washington, D.C.. He changed his name to Frederick Douglass, after James Douglas from Sir Walter Scott’s poem “The Lady of the Lake”. The eloquent Douglass began writing editorials and published three different newspapers, “The North Star”, “Frederick Douglas Paper” and “Douglass Monthly”. Each of these papers spoke about the right to freedom for blacks and about the role the federal government should be taking to make this happen. Douglass also wrote The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in 1845 that told the story of his enslavement and escape. The Douglass we see in Act I has been trying to get an audience with the President, to no avail. Quentin Earl Darrington is a powerful singer shown in songs such as “Here I Am”, “Nothing Without Us”, “Pounding on the Rock”, and “The Meeting”. Playing his son and daughter is Magic Mosley as Lewis and Naomi Tiana Rodgers as Rosetta, also strong singers who join with Quentin on “Nothing Without Us”.
As the title of the musical suggests, Frederick Douglass only had 3 meetings with President Lincoln, once in 1863 and twice in 1864. At each meeting, each man’s respect for the other grew. As a result, we see Lincoln beginning to take more and more of an initiative to do what he could to free the slaves in the rebelling states, leading to the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Douglass kept pressing Lincoln, wanting more for blacks, including the right to vote. Lincoln (Hernandez) sings “A Radical Shouts Now!” accentuating his change from a strictly rule of law follower to a man of action.
Other standouts in this musical are Carmen Cusack as Mary Todd Lincoln. We know from history that Mary Todd Lincoln suffered from a variety of physical ailments and mental health issues. Some of these are shown in the musical. One of Mary and Abraham’s greatest losses was the death of their eleven-year-old son, Willy. In one of the scenes Mary Todd and her dressmaker, Elizabeth, take part in a seance to speak with the deceased Willy. Even with all of this, Mary Todd is portrayed as a woman that not only stood by Abaham through good and bad, but also as a woman that could speak her mind, was quick witted when dealing with adversaries of Abraham and fully understood the political nature of everything Abaham was involved with. Carmen is superb in her portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln. She has several moving songs in Act I include “The Calling”, “Behind the Door” and “In Each Letter”. “In Each Letter” is especially emotional as Mary Todd found a new challenge for her life, helping wounded Union soldiers in hospitals, comforting them and writing letters for them. Additional stand-out performances were by Saycon Sengbloh as Elizabeth Keckley, Mary Todd’s dressmaker, and John-Andrew Morrison as William Slade, Lincoln’s butler.
The choreography by Jon Rua and Daniel J. Watts is creative, including featuring a second tap dancer to begin Act II, Alaman Diadhiou, tapping out a Morse Code style beat while messages appeared on the large background screen. The imaginative set, designed by Derek McClane features large letter-press wood blocks that would have been used in 19th century printing presses. Production designers David Bengali and Hana S. Kim use the Morse Code style projections to inform the audience about Civil War facts and time periods, pictures of old photos from the Civil War, and a moving portrayal of lines from letters written by Union soldiers. Toni-Leslie James costuming was period appropriate, even down to Lincoln’s stove-pipe hat. The eight-piece behind the scenes orchestra was led by Conductor/keyboardist Wilkie Ferguson, producing a dynamic sound. The music by Crystal Monee Hall covered a wide range of musical styles from ballads to anthems to marches and more.
Many argue that the Civil War was a war that should never have occurred, but others say it was the only way to bring the injustices that were occurring, primarily in the South, to an end. This musical covers one of the major turning points in the war that was a step toward bringing equality to a significant part of the American landscape. Obviously, many more changes would be needed. “3 Summers of Lincoln” will be on stage at the La Jolla Playhouse Mandell Weiss Theatre until April 6th. Tickets can be purchased at www.lajollaplayhouse.org or call 858-580-1010.
