PHOTO FLASHBACK: White House Historical Association Posts Pics of 1776 Cast Performing For President Nixon

As previously announced by BroadwayWorld, City Center Encores! will be bringing Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards' historical musical 1776 back to New York in a concert production that will run from March 30-April 3, 2016.

Inspired by the success of Lin-Manuel Miranda's HAMILTON, which has a multi-ethic cast playing America's white founding fathers, the 1969 musical about the signing of the Declaration of Independence will be cast with an eye toward diversity.

While 1776 is a popular musical that has been performed around the country, one performance in particular stands out as an unusual one.

After First Daughter Tricia Nixon saw the original production of 1776 on Broadway, she suggested the cast come down to Washington D.C. and play the full show as part of a new White House performing arts series.

The date set was February 22, 1970, the 238th anniversary of George Washington's birthday. President Richard M. Nixon, First Lady Pat Nixon and 182 guests attended the performance held in the East Room. The Marine Chamber Orchestra provided the live music and the portable stage used was designed in 1966 by Jo Mielziner, who also happened to be 1776's set and lighting designer.

As the show had opened on Broadway in March of 1969, many of the original cast members were no longer involved, but the Nixons got to enjoy William Daniels' John Adams, Howard da Silva's Benjamin Franklin, Paul Hecht's John Dickinson and Virginia Vestoff's Abigail Adams. Betty Buckley had left the production by that time and Mary Bracken Phillips was her replacement as Martha Jefferson. Also, by then John Cullum had joined the cast as Edward Rutledge.

The special performance was not without its controversy. As a freshman Congressman in 1947, Nixon was a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee, whose witch-hunt for communists in the entertainment industry influenced the blacklisting of dozens, including Howard da Silva.

Also, the president wasn't comfortable with John Dickinson's song "Cool, Cool, Considerate Men," which gave a damning view of conservative property-holders. Producer Stuart Ostrow declined the president's request to omit the song, but when it came time for 1776 to be adapted into a movie, producer Jack L. Warner heeded Nixon's request to edit it out. Years later the filmed version of the song was discovered and added as part of a director's cut.

The White House Historical Association recently posted photographs by James E. Russell, NGS photographer, on Facebook of 1776's visit to Washington.