An exposé of America at its 200th birthday, Dream Sequence ’76 braids together everyday settings like a classroom, a neighborhood street scene, and a square dance with weighty government events like a Presidential press conference and a Supreme Court hearing. Alvin Singleton, who drafted the libretto himself, incorporates quotations from such diverse iconic American figures as Abigail Adams, John Quincy Adams, Chief Red Cloud, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thomas Paine, Harry S. Truman, and Malcolm X.
Dream Sequence ’76 was commissioned by the American Institute of Musical Studies for the Bicentennial celebration of the United States. While expressing a patriotic sentiment and highlighting the lofty goals on which the country was founded, it deliberately also addresses how America, even two centuries on, continues to struggle with issues of racial hatred, poverty, and social injustice. Its title seems to allude to the phrase ‘The American Dream’ as well as Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous speech, suggesting that the nation still has much work remaining in turning its dreams into reality. It is, nevertheless, an optimistic and forward-looking work, dedicated to children of the world in the hopes that they may succeed in fulfilling the nation’s long-standing aspirations.