Attribute to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise

I have been an amateur or professional entertainer of one kind or another most of my life. At present, as has been observed by others, I make up long, internally consistent lies, set them down on paper (or in computer files) and sell them. However, long before that, I spent many years playing banjo and guitar and singing, sometimes by myself, sometimes as part of a duo, sometimes with various bands that I had created.

But the last time I stood on a stage as an actor was in 1963 or 1964, playing a minor role in my high school senior play, Anastasia. So miserable was my performance, and so harrowing the experience, that for decades afterward, I was absolutely determined never to try acting again.

However when my daughter, whom most of you know by her stage name, Giovanni Angelo Martelli, asked me to play the part of John Hancock in her production of the Broadway/Hollywood musical 1776, I jumped at it. Acting turns out to be easier and more satisfying than I recalled. The camaraderie amongst those involved is highly satisfying and great fun. It can't really be described—by me, anyway—it has to be experienced.

Who would have guessed, before 1969, when the play premiered, that anyone could produce a hit musical about the Second Continental Congress and the signing of the Declaration of Independence? Yet that's exactly what 1776 is all about, and the result, by turns, is sobering and tragic, funny and charming, and just the slightest bit sexy.

1776 shows the parts played in the event by individuals whose names we have heard all our lives: John Adams, the play's viewpoint character, his wife Abigail, Thomas Jefferson, his wife Martha, Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Caesar Rodney, Richard Henry Lee, Roger Sherman, Samuel Chase, Edward Rutledge, John Dickinson, Lyman Hall, and George Washington, whose battlefield reports are read several times to the Congress.

In all, at the risk of being hanged by the government of His Majesty George III of England, fifty-six heroes put their names to the document.

Before that could happen a lot of politics had to be dealt with. Some delegates saw nothing wrong with being part of the most powerful empire in history. Others perceived the idea of secession as treason. Massachussetts farm wives had to be persuaded to extract potassium nitrate from their manure piles for the manufacture of gunpowder. And there was the issue of slavery, of which Jefferson's draft called for abolition. However he, Adams, and Franklin (founder of the first anti-slavery society in North America), were compelled to strike the anti-slavery paragraph or lose the Southern colonies and any hope of "Independency".

All of this, and much more, is set forth in dialogue and song in 1776. And in 2014, at a time in America's history when the life, liberty, and property of every man, woman, and child are in the gravest peril since (at least) the War Between the States, production of this play holds the greatest possible significance. I once said "You can't fight a culture war if you ain't got any culture". 1776 is exactly the kind of ammunition we need to get through this era of crisis.

So here's the pitch, dear readers: our company, Independency Productions, isn't getting any funding from the NEA, or from the municipal office that gives money to everything artsy-fartsy in the city. Its Kickstarter attempt fell short, due to inadequate publicity (entirely my fault). It has expenses: we're renting a wonderful venue—the main hall of the local Masonic Lodge—22 chairs for the Continental Congress, and the rights to the play, including scripts and scores. We're haunting every local thrift shop for costumes and props.

I get a gavel and a flyswatter.

Many kindly individuals have donated money to help us. It isn't like me to say this sort of thing, and I find it very difficult, but we need more and we need it now. The performers are giving it everything they've got. I wake up every morning with the music in my head.

Help us take the best stance we can against the onrush of statism that has regrettably characterized the 21st century so far. Help us turn it into the century of the Bill of Rights, instead. You can send us money via PayPal at the big red link below or if you prefer, checks and money orders to Rylla Cathryn Smith (my daughter's legal name), 736 Eastdale Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80524.

We sincerely thank everyone who has helped us so far.