Primarily focusing on race relations, the story depicted (among other incidents) Thomas Jefferson's then-alleged affair with a black slave, James Monroe's refusal to halt slavery in Washington, the aftermath of the American Civil War and Andrew Johnson's impeachment.

Future Broadway stars Reid Shelton, Walter Charles, Beth Fowler and Richard Muenz appeared in ensemble roles, as did the young African American baritone Bruce Hubbard.

The musical's original director, Frank Corsaro, choreographer, Donald McKayle, and set and costume designer, Tony Walton, left the production during these tryouts.

Author Ethan Mordden noted that "Bernstein and Lerner created an astonishingly good score, even a synoptic all-American one, with fanfare, march, waltz, blues.

Early in the opera A Quiet Place, the music for the aria "You're late, you shouldn't have come" derives from that of "Me," a song that in the original show established the meta-theatrical concept that was eventually abandoned.

[5] The show's only significant revival was a 1992 Indiana University Opera Theatre production, which used a pre-Philadelphia draft of the script and included portions of Bernstein's music that had been excised on the road to Broadway.

[6] After Bernstein's death in 1990, the heirs of his estate sifted through the many variations and revisions of the score and authorized A White House Cantata, a choral version that deleted nearly all the remaining play-within-a-play references.

[8] Although no cast album was made, Patricia Routledge's performance of "Duet for One" survives as a private recording in mono from the premiere, complete with standing ovation.

The song was subsequently recorded by Judy Kaye, Joanna Gleason, Julie Andrews, and opera singers Marilyn Horne and Roberta Alexander.

"The President Jefferson March" and "Duet for One" both appear in their original (pre-Broadway) versions on an EMI disc called Broadway Showstoppers, conducted by John McGlinn and sung by Davis Gaines and Judy Kaye.

The late African American baritone Bruce Hubbard, a member of the original Broadway ensemble, also recorded Lud's ballad "Seena" on his album For You, For Me, which was reissued in 2005.

The events covered in the play include the selection of a new capital city, the Burning of Washington in 1814, the prelude to the U.S. Civil War, the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, the 1876 presidential election, and the administration of Chester Alan Arthur.

In between rehearsing the various scenes, the actors offer commentary and reflect on the past injustices suffered by black people throughout the time period covered by the play.