For Love! For Liberty! Sings Us Back to Revolutionary Times

As the snowflakes piled up around us here in Deerfield, we set off to Springfield on Sunday to enjoy an original musical titled For Love! For Liberty!, which told the story of a hero named Henry Knox during the Revolutionary War, with musical numbers and dancing. The play featured the letters Knox wrote to his wife Lucy as the agonizing winter campaign unfolded and the difficulty of the mission became clear.

It was a lot of fun, and a worthwhile history lesson, too.  Besides my cousin Stephen Hartshorne, who right away remembered the story of bookseller-turned-patriot Henry Knox, and who can recount the tale, when a team of men and oxen dragged 59 heavy cannons all the way from Fort Ticonderoga on frozen Lake George, NY, across the water and ice through the snow all the way to Boston to fight the British.  I didn’t.  The map shows the route, and you can just imagine ‘snowdrifts taller than men’ and no Mass Pike.

Sean Davis, an African-American actor, plays the role of Knox. “You’ll have to use your imagination with that,” said one player, explaining that the hero wasn’t black, just as the women playing the male soldiers weren’t men. All good.  The setting of the musical was the Springfield Armory, where a group of middle schoolers were curious about the lives of these patriots, and they sang songs about it.

One of the strongest singers was Nora Muhs, who stood out as she encouraged the audience to ‘Step into the Story,”  and then Nora sang, “Where are the women??”  And as the uniformed Park Ranger from the Armory explained,  while the women of the time weren’t carrying muskets, they were helping the war effort by keeping the home fires burning and writing encouraging letters to Knox and others throughout the struggle to keep them going.

The show moves on to the practical matters…How to transport these 59 cannons to the East, where the British were being engaged. With sledges and oxen, the intrepid patriots did indeed move the load 250 agonizing miles, and when they got to Springfield, halfway, the local citizenry supplied them with fresh horses and places to sleep. Springfield, I’m proud to say, really came through for the weary Knox party, and this is what established the famous Springfield Armory that stands today.

The play’s depiction of the Lake George crossing included kids holding up icebergs and the men rowing with little boats bobbing in the icy waters. A scrim behind the stage showed the long route, down the long lake, and all the way across Massachusetts. This is a part of history that we don’t hear much about, yet these heroes, like the bookseller Knox, were committed to fighting the Redcoats and believed in the idea of liberty so much that they’d die for it, and many did.

Ashley Duplessis sang an impressive solo as Lucy Knox, fighting tears after her father, the loyalist (Peter Jerusik), who sang about how she would lose her inheritance and her entire reputation if she stayed with Knox.  “We’re all British,” said one of the youngsters…and at that point they all were since the revolution wasn’t over yet.

The show had good pacing; it didn’t drag at all, and the numbers were fresh, and each time kept the show moving.

The Springfield Community Theater of MA began in 2024 when Vana Nespor and Angela Park wanted to create a showcase for local talent. They secured a grant from the Mass Dept of Travel and Tourism to write and perform this recreation of history, and wrote all of the lyrics and dialogue. Clifton (Jerry) Noble wrote the music for the show, which really shone when they sang “Step into the Story.”  The kids’ singing made the lyrics easier to understand, and the jaunty tune got the show going.

52Sumner’s directors are Daniel M. McKellick and Angela Park, known as Springfield Performing Arts Ventures. They have made a great debut in their first year.

I hope to see many more plays from 52Sumner in 2026.

For Love! For Liberty!  was performed at the renovated former Faith United church at 52 Sumner Avenue in Springfield. A series of concerts is slated, including the Joni Mitchell tribute band Big Yellow Taxi on Feb 21 and the Springfield Chamber Players on March 1. Parking is easy, right across the street.  Find out more and get tickets at www.52Sumner.com.