This 1972 version of the musical about the Continental Congress and its political battles to declare independence from England was made 196 years after the events it was dramatizing in music. Somehow, though, the verbal battles and back-room events, and especially the jockeying for position and political posturing, are as current as ever. And if you approach 1776 as a precursor and spiritual ancestor of the musical Hamilton, then you can enjoy this musical on that basis as well, because most of it is set in what is now known as Philadelphia’s Independence Hall – the room where it happens. And though there’s no Alexander Hamilton in 1776, other familiar names are well represented, with the best of them being William Daniels as John Adams, Howard Da Silva as Benjamin Franklin, and Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson. Watch for Blythe Danner, Gwyneth Paltrow’s mother, as Martha Jefferson.