The birth of a flag— the "short" story

I was telling this story yesterday, but Life Liberty and the Persuit…'s post inspired me to retell the tale.

I was playing Judge Wilson in the musical 1776 and was getting fitted for my costume during one of the rehearsals. I was trying on various pants in another room when I heard my scene was coming up. I have been comfortable wearing boxers on stage since I played Tony in West Side Story— so going on without pants was not a bother. I didn't want to miss my entrance, so I went into the rehearsal room wearing my thick red and white striped boxers.

Being that the show was a comedy, I tried my best to stay in character and not crack up seeing all of the people giggling. But the real kicker was when the person who played Ben Franklin shouted out "Martha… I have a great idea for a flag" to which the entire room broke out in laughter and the scene had to stop.

Ever since that time, whenever I wore those boxers I had to giggle a bit.