St. Francis Musical Production Portrays First Lady Abigail Adams

April 18, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Get an up close and personal look at the American Revolution, set to music, in Abigail in the Colonies: A Song for John.

This libretto by St. Francis Professor Terry Quinn with music by Gary Fagin recounts the poetry and correspondences of Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, in 1774. The performance will take place during activity hour, Thursday, April 19, from 11 a.m. to noon in Founders Hall.

This performance will feature actress Elisabeth Halliday in the role of Abigail and Eric Sedgwick accompanying her on the piano.

Abigail in the Colonies: A Song for John tells Abigail Adams’ story after her husband John has left for the meeting of the First Continental Congress. The audience will be taken into the daily life of Abigail through her correspondence with John as he is away. Abigail not only shares her love and curiosity for what he is doing, but she also expresses the daily domestic occurrences and gives an eyewitness account of the horrors that occurred when the battle with the British spilled into her backyard.

This libretto gives a look into the lives of two of America’s most loved revolutionaries and, in turn, an example of the effects of the American Revolution firsthand.

Abigail in the Colonies: A Song for John was performed, alongside John Adams in Amsterdam, in a production titled A Distant Love as a part of The Thomas J. Volpe Lecture Series at St. Francis College. This is the second in a series of four productions that Crazy 88 Productions is planning at St. Francis College.