Gaines will play the role of Richard Henry Lee. The cast will also include Tami Tappan Damiano as Abigail Adams and Steven Glaudini as John Adams.

Directed by Nick DeGruccio, 1776 will run July 9-25 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center.

1776, with music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards and book by Peter Stone, premiered on Broadway in 1969 and is "based on the events leading up the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence. John Adams, disliked by many in congress, joins up with Benjamin Franklin, Richard Henry Lee and Thomas Jefferson to bring forward a resolution for independence that will eventually set America free from England's tyranny."

Davis Gaines received the Bay Area Critics' Award for Best Actor for his work as the Phantom in the West Coast production of The Phantom of the Opera, a role he repeated on Broadway. His other theatrical credits include the world premiere of Whistle Down the Wind as well as Encores! The Boys From Syracuse; Hello, Dolly!; Forbidden Broadway and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Gaines has sung with virtually every major symphony orchestra in North America, and his two solo recordings, "Against the Tide" and "All My Tomorrows: Songs of Sammy Cahn," are available on LAP Records.

Musical Theatre West performances are at the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the campus of California State University, Long Beach. Season tickets are available now and can be purchased through the MTW Box Office at (562) 856-1999, ext. 4 or online at www.musical.org.