Liberty or Loyalty? The Music, Songs & Scenes of Broadside the Musical!

Before there were social media feeds, there were broadsides and in revolutionary Boston, everyone had something to say!

Experience Broadside the Musical one song and scene at a time with this YouTube playlist featuring original musical compositions, vocal arrangements, instrumental music, theatrical performances, dance, choreography, and behind-the-scenes videos from Colorado and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Opening with “Liberty or Loyalty,” the musical introduces a city divided between Patriots and Loyalists, where printers, politicians, soldiers, and ordinary citizens must choose between the British Crown and the promise of independence.

Broadside the Musical - Song: Liberty or Loyalty | Viewmark (@viewmark)

From the spirited “Patriot Jig” and Margaret Gage's playful encounter with Paul Revere in “Simple and Free,” to the tender “I Do See It Too” and dramatic courtroom confrontation of “An Eye for an Eye,” each song brings revolutionary Boston to life. But Broadside isn't simply about revisiting history. The arguments over freedom of speech, political division, public opinion, and the power of the press remain remarkably familiar. We wanted audiences to experience the American Revolution as a mirror of our own times, rather than a chapter in a history book. Explore the music, songs, arrangements, rehearsals, choreography, and live performance videos that bring this story to the stage. The costumes may be colonial, but the questions are surprisingly contemporary.

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Broadside Begins Its Next Chapter at Viewmark

Broadside the Musical is now available on the Viewmark media production site, giving our newest musical a home online just days after completing its 2026 run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Set in Boston in the years leading up to the American Revolution, Broadside explores how printed broadsides became the social media of their day; spreading news, propaganda, and revolutionary ideas before the first shots were fired. After opening in Denver this summer, the company traveled to Edinburgh, marking our fourth consecutive year bringing an original musical to the Fringe.

Broadside the Musical | Viewmark (@viewmark)

Bringing Broadside to Viewmark is part of our larger plan to make the production site the publishing home for our theatrical media, including performance videos, music, photography, and the stories behind each production. And Broadside is far from finished. The Edinburgh run may have closed a chapter, but the musical continues to develop. For those who couldn’t join us in Edinburgh, the complete show is now available in 4K, not quite a seat in the theatre, but the next best thing.

The Fringe chapter has closed. The story continues.
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Reviews of Broadside at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Here's what the critics, reviewers and audience members are saying about the new musical Broadside at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe:

Broadside cast prepares to perform in Edinburgh Scotland

SPEAK THE SPEECH
(Professional Critic)
Review by Rebecca Mahar

⭐ “The company provide excellent performances that lift the whole piece, fully committed, comically cheeky, and holding beautifully to their harmonies even while dancing and dodging each other…”

⭐ “Live music…is simply arranged and refreshing, recalling the kind of tavern rooms and meeting halls parts of the show take place in.”

And perhaps our favorite thought for the future:

⭐ “With further development, and a longer running time, it has the potential to be the next fascinating musical about early American history.”

AUDIENCE MEMBERS (edfringe):

John (Audience member) 16 Aug 2026
⭐ "We really enjoyed this musical. We’ve been attending the fringe for a long time and this production had some of the most lovely harmonies and singing we’ve heard in recent memory. The group seemed to also really enjoy working with each other. Thank you!"

Declan Farrell (Audience member) 16 Aug 2026
⭐ "This was an excellent show. The performance was full of energy. The songs were really enjoyable and the acting made me feel that i was a witness to the revolution, really great show. I would go see it again. I would give it 5 stars, well done."

Danny Wright (Audience member) 14 Aug 2026
⭐ “Brilliant storytelling! There’s a real heart to this show. The music is cracking, and the harmonies are absolutely gorgeous. You can feel how much the company are enjoying singing together, and it gives the whole thing such warmth and energy.”

Matt (Audience member) 13 Aug 2026
⭐ "Very impressed with the performers and the storytelling!"

Mike (Audience member) 11 Aug 2026
⭐ "A wonderful show with great songs and harmonies, and a large talented cast. They have traveled a long way to tell their story and it's only on for a few more days, so don't miss out."

Marjorie (Audience member) 9 Aug 2026
⭐ "Impressive ensemble of actors (we were shocked how they all fit in the space)! Fantastic singing, amazingly beautiful harmonies and an interesting story I didn’t know much about. Totally worth the affordable ticket. "

Matthijs (Audience member) 8 Aug 2026
⭐ "Great show! Definitely recommend seeing this is if you are looking for a musical with catchy tunes and a powerful message."

Theatre Makers Talking Theatre

One of the highlights of our run at Vintage Theatre was our "Theatre Makers Townhall" discussion, hosted by Shannon McCarthy. What began as a post-show discussion quickly became a lively conversation with directors, composers, performers, producers, and theatre makers from across the Denver community.

Theatre making with the cast of Broadside the Musical

We shared the journey of creating Broadside; from research and writing to fundraising, producing, and taking a new musical to the Edinburgh Fringe. But the best part was that it wasn't just us talking. Everyone had the opportunity to chime in, ask questions, share experiences, and build on each other's ideas. The back-and-forth made it feel less like a panel and more like a gathering of artists learning from one another.

A sincere thank you to Shannon McCarthy for guiding the conversation so thoughtfully, and to Vintage Theatre for creating opportunities like this that bring our theatre community together. We left inspired by the talent, curiosity, and generosity in the room.

The Actors Behind Broadside

Some theatre partnerships just click. Director Kelly McAllister returns for his fourth Edinburgh Fringe, while Olivia Kisicki embarks on her second. Together, they bring curiosity, creativity, and the kind of teamwork that makes new musicals come alive.

Behind every production is a leadership team that helps turn ideas on the page into a living, breathing performance. Choreographer Heather Westenskow and Stage Manager Jacob Frye are at the heart of that process, guiding rehearsals, shaping performances, and keeping the countless moving pieces of Broadside on course.

 

One of the greatest joys of creating a new musical is collaborating with actors. They take words and music on a page and transform them into living characters, bringing fresh ideas, insight, and heart to every rehearsal. Broadside has become a stronger show because of them.

We're thrilled to welcome Adam Johnson and Madge Guerra to the cast of Broadside! From day one, they've jumped in with enthusiasm, embraced the history, the music, and the challenge of creating a brand-new musical.

Sonsharae studied theatre at Queen Mary University of London, B.A; Metro State University. She sends love to her Mom, Dad, Genetra, and Allenette.

Cooper holds a Bachelors from Berklee College Of Music in Boston, MA. Outside of theatre, Cooper is a professional tarot reader, songwriter, and educator.

Originally from Long Beach, California, Libby moved to Colorado to attend the University of Colorado Boulder, where she earned a BFA in Musical Theatre, BA in History, and Minor in Dance.

Building a Musical, One Rehearsal at a Time

One of the joys of creating a new musical is watching a group of people come together around a shared story. Every rehearsal of Broadside brings new discoveries, whether it's finding a better moment in a scene, uncovering a character choice, or hearing a song come alive in a new way. As the show takes shape, so does the company behind it.

A few Broadside cast members at Charlie Brown's

After rehearsal this week, part of the cast gathered at Charlie Brown's to unwind over some food and drinks. Away from scripts and scores, there was plenty of laughter, storytelling, and conversation, a reminder that the friendships formed during a production are often just as memorable as the performances themselves. With opening night now just weeks away, it's exciting to see both the show and the community around it growing stronger together.

The Broadside Behind the Broadside

The thing I love most about this broadside is that while it looks like something pulled from a Boston print shop in 1770, part of the process is unmistakably modern. Back then, an engraver would etch an illustration directly into copper or wood by hand. For our poster, we created a digital drawing of an 18th century common press, then used a modern 3D printing process to create the image plate itself. Different century, same idea: carve an image into relief so it can be inked and pressed into paper.

3d printed plate and test print

The actual printing process, though, is still wonderfully old-fashioned. First we lock up and print the type, just as printers would have done with a colonial broadside. Then the form comes apart, the image plate is mounted separately, inked in a contrasting color, and the sheet runs through the press a second time. That second pass is what gives the press illustration its own texture and presence on the page. You can even see little imperfections and pressure variations from the press itself, which is exactly the charm of letterpress printing.

Finished Letterpress Broadside

So in a strange way, this poster became a collaboration between centuries. A digital illustration turned into a physical relief plate, hand inked and pressed using techniques that would have been instantly familiar to printers in Revolutionary Boston. Same process. Same smell of ink. Just with a 3D printer standing in for the engraver’s burin.

Smells Like Ink and Rebellion

There’s a moment in letterpress printing when the machine goes quiet and you lift the sheet to see whether the ink, pressure, and paper all agreed with one another. For Broadside, we recently spent the afternoon hand-printing posters on a Vandercook proof press surrounded by trays of type, ink rollers, and decades of printing history. While the Vandercook is a 20th-century machine rather than an 18th-century common press, it still shares some of the qualities that made colonial broadsides feel alive: the slight bite of the type into paper, the unevenness of ink, and the sense that every sheet carries the mark of the human being who pulled it.

Broadside is a musical about words becoming action, long before social media existed.

That physicality matters to us. Broadside is a musical about words becoming action, about pamphlets, songs, satire, and printed pages shaping public opinion long before social media existed. Standing in a working print shop, watching fresh ink roll across metal type, it suddenly becomes very easy to understand how a single broadside could stir up an entire city. You can fake the look of an old broadside on a computer screen. But there’s something different about hearing the rollers turn, smelling the ink, and holding the paper in your hands.

Building the Common Press for Broadside

One of the most exciting parts of developing Broadside the Musical has been designing and building the common press that anchors the show visually and thematically. In Revolutionary Boston, the printing press was more than a machine, it was a weapon of ideas. For the stage, though, it also has to survive rehearsals, scene shifts, lighting cues, actor movement, and the occasional last-minute adjustment. Building something that looks period-accurate while remaining practical for live theatre becomes its own kind of balancing act.

Colonial press structure for music theatre show

There are a lot of steps in the process, and honestly, some of it comes down to throwing a few ideas against the wall just to better understand what works. Early prototypes are rarely elegant, but they help reveal the safest and simplest path toward something functional and easy to implement. In technical theatre, every extra hinge, hidden wheel, or moving part becomes another possible point of failure, especially under performance conditions. I’ve learned it’s better to discover those weaknesses early in the shop than during a scene change in front of an audience.

Common press mechanism for the musical "Broadside"

One interesting discovery during the build was realizing the common press might be able to double as a witness stand within the staging. Once that idea appeared, it started influencing the overall design language of the piece. Instead of building two separate scenic elements, the challenge became creating one structure capable of serving multiple storytelling purposes without feeling forced. That’s often where technical theatre becomes most creative: not simply constructing scenery, but designing objects that actively participate in the storytelling.

What I love about this stage of development is how collaborative and experimental it feels. A common press in a museum can simply exist as a historical object, but a common press in theatre has to live, move, transform, and support performers safely night after night. Every rehearsal teaches something new about weight, sightlines, actor traffic, or audience perception. Little by little, the rough sketches turn into something real, and somewhere in the sawdust and problem-solving, the world of Broadside starts coming to life.

Before the curtain falls… a spark. 💥

Broadside the Musical doesn’t end with a polite bow, it ends with the shot heard ’round the world. On this date, 251 years ago, Dr. Joseph Warren quietly set history in motion. A physician by trade, but a revolutionary at heart, he had intelligence that British troops were marching to seize colonial supplies and arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock.

Minute Man Park Overview

So he turned to a silversmith. Paul Revere didn’t just “ride at midnight”, he first had to slip out of Boston by rowboat, quietly crossing the Charles River past a British warship. Once ashore, he borrowed a horse and began the ride most of us only half remember. (And here’s the twist: he wasn’t alone, other riders like William Dawes and Samuel Prescott carried the alarm too.) Behind him, in the North End, lanterns were raised in the tower of Old North Church, one if by land, two if by sea, a signal system as fast and urgent as any 18th-century “notification feed.”

The Midnight Riders

Ink had done its work. The broadsides had stirred the people. Now… the message was moving and gaining momentum. By the next morning, April 19, 1775, on the green at Lexington, about 70 militia stood facing hundreds of British regulars. No orders clearly given. No plan to begin a war. And the, a shot rang out. No one knows who fired it. A British officer later called it “a random shot.” Ralph Waldo Emerson would later immortalize it as “the shot heard ’round the world.” Eight colonists lay dead. The war had begun.

Witness on the Battle Road

That’s where we leave you:

Right at the moment when words give way to history, when broadsides become bullets, and a story becomes a revolution.