A side view of the stage and seating at Ford’s Theatre. On the left is the Presidential Box with an American flag, a framed picture of George Washington and American flag bunting draped over the box.
View from the stage of the President’s Box at Ford’s Theatre. Photo by Maxwell MacKenzie.

Free First Preview Dates Announced

2 min read

This season we’re kicking off a new initiative called Free First Preview where we give away tickets to the first preview performance for all of our mainstage productions. The initiative is presented in an effort to broaden access to Ford’s Theatre programming. We hope that by removing price barriers we can invite those in the Washington-area community who might not otherwise consider participation in the arts.

The Ford’s Theatre cast of Come From Away. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

We want to express a big thanks to our partners at TodayTix for making our mobile lotteries for these performances possible. The TodayTix mobile lottery will open one week before each of the Free First Preview performances in our 2016-2017 season.

Our second lottery (for the Nov. 17 performance of A Christmas Carol) becomes available Nov. 11, 2016!

Craig Wallace as Ebenezer Scrooge and James Konicek as Jacob Marley in the 2016 Ford’s Theatre production of A Christmas Carol. Photo by Scott Suchman.

Lottery Dates this Season

The full list of this season’s Free First Preview performances are:

  • Come From Away: September 2, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
  • A Christmas Carol: November 17, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: January 21, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Ragtime: March 10, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.

How Do I Enter?

Gregory Linington as George, Holly Twyford as Martha and Danny Gavigan as Nick in the Ford’s Theatre production of Edward Albee’s  Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, directed by Aaron Posner. Photo by Scott Suchman.

Patrons must download the TodayTix app (available in Apple App Store, the Google Play or Amazon AppStore), open it and select “TodayTix Free First Previews” with Ford’s Theatre. Winners will be notified by email and push notification between 10 a.m. ET and 2:00 p.m. ET on the day of the first preview. Winners must confirm their winning tickets (up to two) in the TodayTix app within one hour of being notified.

In addition, a limited number of partial view tickets will also be distributed through in-person lottery at the Ford’s Theatre Box Office on the day of the Free First Preview. Patrons may sign up for two tickets per person, beginning at 6:00 p.m. An email address is required to sign up. At 7:00 p.m., the box office staff will release available tickets. In-person lottery entries are eligible for partial view seats and any unclaimed mobile lottery tickets.

We can’t wait to meet our first audience at Come From Away next week. Download the app now!

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