Spirit Of '76!

Tone & Style: A raucous “You Are There” trip through Colonial times filled with famous people, real events, colorful characters and a stalemated war that just won’t end. And while the tone is often comedic, there are many tense moments of life-threatening danger, treasonous plots, blackhearted revenge and grievous mistakes by those who should have known better. The show stopping passion HAMILTON, the power of THE PATRIOT, the deadly espionage of TURN and the bawdy humor of THE GREAT combine in a highly cinematic and gripping tale about the struggle for independence and the powerful emotional journey of a brave young spy and her loyal companions who risk it all to serve the cause of liberty and fight to keep America’s hopes alive when all seems lost. The stakes are high, the passions are intense and the pace never lets up in this rambunctious and unpredictable story world filled with legendary heroes, arch villains, shocking revelations and inspiring female guts and grit in an up close and personal look at what really happened and the stunning victory that turned the world upside down. Story Overview: The winds of change are blowing. The Enlightenment has sailed across the Atlantic and found safe harbor in Boston where liberty, equality and individual rights have taken root among top intellectuals like Ben Franklin and John Adams, who believe that independence from Great Britain is not only essential, but a God-given right. The colonies are heavily taxed and have no say in Parliament, which sits 3000 miles away. It’s time to break the bonds of monarchy and go separate ways, even if it means war. But not everyone agrees. America is deeply divided between Patriots wanting independence, Loyalists loyal to the Crown and those who simply want to be left alone. And America has no standing army, while the British have 10,000 well-trained troops spread throughout the Colonies. As England tightens its grip through harsh new taxes, patriotic fervor starts to spread. One spark and the powder keg will explode. But history got a lot of things wrong, as we shall see. And thanks to Alexander Hamilton’s rebirth on Broadway, the real story can now be told. So hang on to your tricorn. It’s going to be a bumpy ride. After finishing a round of golf and tipping with a fat roll of $10s, Alexander Hamilton – basking in the glow of his stunning rebirth on Broadway – takes us on a tour of his baronial mansion reflecting on the past and his fateful duel with Aaron Burr. The outrageously funny Debbie Revere, wearing jeans and a tricorn and buzzed from a frat party, pops in for a visit and Hamilton invites her to join him on a trip back to Colonial times because history missed a lot of important things and he wants to set the record straight. Debbie’s all in, barking Patriot slogans like a football coach and ready to fight the war all over again. Hamilton says they’ll only be observers, invisible to those around them, but when Debbie learns that her phone won’t work back there, her Snapchat soul is shaken to the core. The journey begins at Plymouth Rock in 1620, where Hamilton and Debbie stand with Wampanoag Chief Massasoit as he watches the Pilgrims row ashore and groans a one word comment: “Fuck.” Then it’s on to Salem in 1692, where they watch in horror as fanatical Pilgrims put several young girls on trial for witchcraft, causing Debbie to race out screaming, “These people are fucking insane!” From there we move to Charleston in 1720, where scores of Negroes fresh off the boats from Africa are put up for auction. It’s a gruesome and highly emotional scene and Hamilton tells us, “The scourge of slavery and the unbridled racism and cruelty it harbored, and the fact that we enshrined it in our Constitution and allowed it to fester for hundreds of years is a shame I shall never be able to erase.” We arrive in Colonial Boston in 1765, where everyone’s up in arms about harsh new taxes on lobster rolls, Ben & Jerry’s and a total ban on DUNKIN’, which is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Debbie and Hamilton join the fun at Boston Tea Party, which leads to…THE BRITISH INVASION! Five thousand Redcoats are brought in to quell the unrest The Sons of Liberty get ready. And as the attack begins, Debbie gallops overland in a daring midnight ride to sound the alarm, outfoxes British roadblocks and joins the Minutemen at Lexington where Paul Revere and The Raiders out-blast The Kinks in a ferocious Battle of the Bands. We move to Philadelphia, where the pressure is on. The Founding Fathers are broiling in the heat and squabbling over who should write the Declaration, which needs to get done NOW. John Adams wants to do it, but Sam Adams hates his guts. Franklin asks young Jefferson, but he’s absorbed in Black Girls porn magazine. That night, as Jefferson passes out drunk with the Declaration barely started, Debbie grabs the quill, Hamilton dictates the whole thing from memory and when a hungover Jefferson wakes up and sees the finished document, he staggers back to Independence Hall and is hailed a hero. But when Hancock signs his name in huge letters like he wrote it himself, the squabbling explodes again. The story grows more serious as our hosts split up to follow the war. And though they’ll take separate paths, Hamilton promises Debbie they’ll meet again on a fateful day in 1780, where all the pieces come together in an explosive and heartbreaking climax. Hamilton joins his younger self and relives the misery of Valley Forge while Debbie joins Dani, Noah and Bonnie as they arrive in occupied Philadelphia and move into Franklin’s “secret house” next to his real one, which has been commandeered by John Andre. Dani wastes no time endearing herself to Andre as the glamorous Sophie Weston and the delightfully foppish Sir Percy Blifil and starts sending reports to Washington under the code-name “The Rose.” And Debbie, thrilled to be part of the spy team, is so enthralled by Sophie’s and Percy’s cleverness that she becomes their doppelgangers, adding hilarious twists to every scene. But Dani soon becomes reckless. And when a British officer dies after a drunken duel with Percy and Andre looks the other way, Dani starts wondering what the hell is going on. Suddenly things take an ominous turn. As the French fleet sails to America and the British withdraw to New York, Washington appoints Benedict Arnold Military Governor of Philadelphia – a terrible choice and the first of many mistakes. Arnold shocks everyone by falling in love with Peggy Shippen, a Loyalist vixen half his age and blatantly enriches himself at the war’s expense. Tried for corruption and recommended for court-martial, Washington leaves him dangling in the wind, enraging Arnold and driving Peggy to demand he switch sides and get revenge. With Andre now in New York, Dani and her team move to New Canaan, reporting to Benjamin Tallmadge, head of Washington’s spy network in New York, Long Island and Connecticut. But the relationship is strained from the start. Tallmadge insults Dani’s heritage (“France is a monarchy! What can you possibly know about liberty?”), but at a deadly shootout at a Loyalist militia roadblock, Dani and Noah prove their courage. And when Tallmadge later apologizes, Dani refuses to accept it. The war drags on, neither side gaining advantage. Suddenly Arnold’s coded letters offering to turn coat give Sir Henry Clinton an idea. Desperate to end the war quickly before Parliament tires of the conflict and knowing the fortress at West Point is the Americans most strategic asset, he tells Andre to offer Arnold 20,000 pounds and a Major-Generalship to surrender it. Thrilled by the audacious scheme, Andre and Arnold start a secret correspondence that keeps everyone in the dark. Nobody suspects a thing: not Dani, Noah, Sophie or Percy and most importantly, neither Washington nor Young Hamilton. September, 1780. The darkest days of the war have descended. Washington’s soldiers threaten to mutiny because they haven’t fought in two years. But Washington’s determined to keep his army together, knowing this is not just a war, but a test of wills. And America’s must be stronger. In a masterpiece of cunning and deception, Arnold cons Washington into appointing him commander of West Point – perhaps the most grievous mistake of the war. As Arnold and Peggy settle in at their home up the Hudson dreaming of riches and revenge, Sophie, Noah and Bonnie see the British fleet preparing to sail from New York harbor. Knowing something is afoot but having no idea what, they send an urgent message to Washington warning him of the danger. Washington knows there can only be two targets: West Point, and the French fleet in Rhode Island. He orders Arnold to double his defenses (which Arnold gleefully ignores) and rides north to Hartford to meet Vicomte Rochambeau, telling Young Hamilton that if West Point falls, “The war will be over and we will be hanged.” Fearing the British will double cross him, Arnold demands to meet Andre face to face to finalize plans and Clinton reluctantly agrees. That night, after a party at British HQ which Sophie attends over Noah and Bonnie’s objections, Andre kidnaps Sophie and sails up the Hudson as Debbie hilariously scrambles on board. Sophie is shocked when Andre reveals the plot, then is shocked even more when Andre reveals they’re cousins and he knew about “The Rose” from the start – but loved Sophie and Percy so much that he couldn’t let any harm to come to them. The confession melts Sophie’s heart – and Debbie’s too. And when Sophie removes her flowing wig and Dani presents her real self, Andre stares in wonder. “Dear God. Now I’ve fallen in love with all three of you.” As Arnold and Andre meet under cover of darkness, Andre’s ship comes under attack and sails away, stranding Andre behind enemy lines. Dani and Debbie jump through a gaping hole in the stern and swim ashore as a rattled Arnold gives Andre plans for West Point and insists he take them to Clinton as a sign of good faith. Desperate to get away, Arnold gives Andre a safe conduct pass and gallops back to West Point, forcing Andre to change into civilian clothes, hide the plans in his boot and using the name “John Anderson,” try to make it back to British lines undetected. Dani, Noah, Bonnie (and Debbie) reunite at a tavern in Stony Point where Dani reveals the West Point plot and says Andre could have had them killed at any time, but chose to spare their lives. The dilemma is enormous. If Andre makes it to British lines, the British fleet will sail up the Hudson, West Point will fall and America’s hopes for independence will be crushed. And if Andre is captured, West point will be saved, but he’ll be hanged as a spy. Suddenly Bonnie breaks the deadlock. “He’s your cousin, for God’s sake! And he saved out necks many times! The least we can do is try to save his!” A wild chase explodes through the Hudson Highlands as the team gallops like the wind to catch Andre. But the distance is too great and he’s captured. An unsuspecting American officer sends a courier to Arnold saying his man Mr. Anderson was caught trying to reach British lines and requests instructions. Suddenly Dani, Noah, Bonnie and Tallmadge all burst in and when Tallmadge discovers Andre’s true identity, he takes him prisoner as Dani and Noah gallop north to stop the courier from alerting Arnold. But once again, they’re too late. The courier reaches Arnold and Arnold flees, knowing he’ll be hanged if caught. Dani and Noah intercept Washington on his way back from Hartford and when they break the news of the West Point plot, Washington and Young Hamilton are shocked. The reunion Hamilton promised Debbie takes place and as they watch Washington slump in his saddle looking devastated, they realize how close America came to losing it all. Andre is tried and sentenced to death, but Arnold – the real villain – has fled to the British. Despite Dani’s and Young Hamilton’s desperate pleas for mercy, Andre is hanged and Dani, enraged by Washington’s lack of compassion, resigns from his service and returns to France with Noah and Bonnie. We move ahead one year to Yorktown where, with invaluable help from the French, Young Hamilton leads a breathtaking charge to win the battle and force Cornwallis’s surrender. Hamilton calls it the proudest moment of his life and Debbie pays him the ultimate hip chick compliment: “Young Colonel Badass.” But Dani’s story isn’t over. Eleven years later, her magnificent chateau near Paris is destroyed in the French Revolution and she and Noah and Bonnie escape with their lives in Noah’s recently finished hot air balloon. They return to their house in New Canaan and on July 4th, 1793 – the 10th anniversary of the end of the war – a letter from President Washington arrives commending her invaluable service to the cause of liberty. “And while your name may never be known to history, it will never be forgotten by those who benefitted so much from your courage and purpose.” We return to Philadelphia, where Debbie hosts a raucous “Spirit of ’76!” party at Independence Hall as everyone dances up a storm to “Philadelphia Freedom.” And as the party continues into the night, we move to the quiet housing of the Liberty Bell, where Founding Fathers George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Sam Adams, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton speak directly and forcefully about the grave dangers facing democracy today and the obligation every American has to protect and defend the Constitution against insurrectionists and autocrats who seek to destroy the very foundations upon which this country was built. It’s a serious ending to a thrilling story and will vault SPIRIT OF ’76! from the realm of the popular into the ranks of classic films that faced the most important issues of their times and didn’t back down. The fun and excitement delivered by the main story will encourage viewers to pay close attention to the hard-hitting message at the end.