Summary

Chapter 14, Introduction: Here, McCarter describes the process of how the show’s costumes were imagined and developed by designer Paul Tazewell, whose ideas for blending a feel for the present day, the realities of clothing of the past, and the needs to define story and character continued from the beginning of an important workshop through into the show’s actual production. Finally, he describes how, at the conclusion of that workshop, which ended with a presentation of a large number, “The Battle of Yorktown,” the company celebrated onstage.

Chapter 15, Introduction: McCarter comments that it had been tempting to end the first act of the show in the aftermath of “Yorktown,” but that over time, the creators came to understand that a better ending would be to leave the audience with the question of how the realization of their dream and cause would affect the...