Theatre Trivia Tweets: Who’d He Play? 1776 was a popular 1970s musical. William Daniels was in the original Broadway production of 1776. Who did he play and what was unusual about his Tony nomination? SelectReveal Answer> Daniels played John Adams in the musical 1776. He was nominated for a Tony for Featured Actor in a Musical but turned down that nomination because he said Adams was a lead role. Post navigation previous postNext Post