The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee follows six awkward adolescents through their daunting and hilarious championship quest. As they navigate the tournament’s pressures, the eccentric coterie finds a new sense of belonging. Along the way, they learn that there is more to life than winning a trophy. This charming coming-of-age tale also invites four volunteers from the audience to participate in each performance, ensuring new and unexpected comedy every night.
The Ford’s Theatre Legacy Commissions: A First Look – 2027
In its 5th edition, A First Look continues to showcase new plays in various stages of development including plays from the Ford’s Theatre Legacy Commissions. The commissions seek to amplify lesser-known stories and heroes responsible for changing the course of civil rights, social justice and equality in America. The Ford’s Theatre Legacy Commissions initiative is led by Senior Artistic Advisor Sheldon Epps, Director of Artistic Programming José Carrasquillo and The Ford’s Theatre Legacy Commissions Advisor Sydné Mahone. Learn more about the initiative here.
A Christmas Carol – 2026
Join the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future as they lead the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge on a journey of transformation and redemption. Originally conceived by Michael Baron, this music-infused production captures the magic and joy of Dickens’s Yuletide classic, with familiar characters, ghosts and a children’s ensemble in the spirit of the holidays. Acclaimed actor Craig Wallace returns to play Ebenezer Scrooge in Ford’s annual tradition heralded as a “rich visual and vocal treat” (TheaterMania) and “infectiously jolly” (The Washington Post).
Come From Away
Ten years after making its Ford’s Theatre debut, Tony Award-winning Come From Away returns to our historic stage and tells the heart-warming true story of how a small Canadian town cared for 6,579 airline passengers stranded there on 9/11. When 38 planes were diverted to its doorstep, the town of Gander doubled in size, playing host to an international community of strangers and offering food, shelter and friendship. Featuring a rousing score of folk and rock, Come From Away honors the better angels of our nature, revealing hope and humanity in a time of darkness.
1776
This popular American musical is an insightful, vibrant and humorous take on our founding fathers’ determination to do the right thing for their fledgling nation. As members of the Second Continental Congress struggle to reach consensus, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson argue for independence from the British monarchy. The ensuing debates defined our country. As we explore this historical moment through the evolving identity of America today, this robust, award-winning musical boldly brings our country’s beginnings to blazing life.
Digital Program
Learn more about 1776. Read the program before you see the performance.
Watch the Trailer
Pre-Show Description
Ford’s Theatre offers audio-described performances for all of our mainstage productions. Audio-described performances for 1776 are April 9, 2026 at 7 p.m. and May 2, 2026 at 1 p.m. This Pre-Show Description video includes information about the set and costumes.
Lesson Plan
Sensory Friendly Performance Materials
The Ford’s Theatre Legacy Commissions: A First Look – 2026
In its fourth edition, Ford’s Theatre new plays festival, A First Look will showcase readings of three works currently in development. The free, two-day festival gives audiences a rare opportunity to witness the development of new historical dramas. The festival offers stage readings of the plays and allows for a closer look into the creation of stories and characters steep in history. Audiences attending the festival have seen firsthand the process of the playwrights and experienced the evolution of the work from first draft to a world premiere production on our historic stage. The 2026 festival will showcase readings of three works currently in development.
A First Look features new works that explore historically significant events and figures that have contributed to the fabric of America and serves as the showcase to Ford’s Theatre Legacy Commissions. The initiative is an artistic incubator for new works that illuminate the stories of lesser-known individuals whose courage and perseverance helped shape the ongoing pursuit of civil rights and equality in America. The 2026 festival will showcase the following plays:
- Springs by Jeanne Sakata and directed by Jessica Kubzansky;
- Providence Spring by Richard Hellesen and directed by Holly Twyford; and
- Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest with book and lyrics by Psalmayene 24, music by Kokayi and directed by Reginald L. Douglas.
Senior Artistic Advisor Sheldon Epps, Director of Artistic Programming José Carrasquillo and The Ford’s Theatre Legacy Commissions Advisor Sydné Mahone lead the initiative. Learn more about each play below.
Meet and Mingle: A First Look audience members are invited to continue the conversation during an intimate post-show gathering following the Saturday, January 17, 7 p.m. reading. Meet the A First Look Festival playwrights, members of the creative team and mingle with fellow theater enthusiasts. Explore the inspiration, themes and writing process behind these new works as the creatives share their thoughts and questions in a casual, engaging setting.
Digital Program
Learn more about A First Look. Read the program before you see the performance.
Springs
Written by Jeanne Sakata; Directed by Jessica Kubzansky
Public Reading: Friday, January 16, 2026 at 7 p.m.
Set against the shifting landscapes of the early twentieth century, this play follows Kyusaburo “Harry” Sakata, a young man who leaves Japan in search of a place to build a life shaped by purpose and possibility. From the farms of the West Coast to the fields of an internment camp during WWII, Harry’s knowledge of the land becomes both his livelihood and his lifeline, sustaining his family and the community around him. As he confronts exclusion laws, suspicion and the violence of forced incarceration, Harry holds fast to his belief in what America could be. When he later turns his attention to the Gilroy Hot Springs, he imagines a sanctuary where people might find peace in nature—and in one another. At its heart, this play asks what it means to belong while keeping faith in a country that has not always kept faith with you.
Providence Spring
Written by Richard Hellesen; Directed by Holly Twyford
Public Reading: Saturday, January 17, 2026, at 2 p.m.
Set in the years following the Civil War, Providence Spring traces Clara Barton’s little-known mission to uncover the fate of thousands of missing Union soldiers. What begins in a modest office on Seventh Street becomes a sweeping journey through bureaucratic resistance, personal animosity and the unexpected allies who help shape her purpose. As Barton brings answers to grieving families, she confronts the reality that while the war has ended, the nation’s struggle to fulfill its promise of “a new birth of freedom” is only beginning. Grounded in the power of memory—personal and historical—the play explores why preserving truth matters in a country so often asked to forget.
Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest
Book and Lyrics by Psalmayene 24; Music by Kokayi; Directed Reginald L. Douglas
Public Reading: Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 7 p.m.
Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Civil Rights era, Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest follows the Congressman’s early life and traces how the murder of Emmett Till transformed his understanding of justice and set him on a path of purposeful service. What begins with a young man grappling with the weight of a national tragedy becomes a sweeping journey through grassroots organizing, moral conviction and the mentors who help shape his calling. As he rises to lead the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and works alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he discovers that the fight for equality demands both courage and unwavering hope. Grounded in memory and movement, the musical explores why ordinary citizens step into extraordinary roles and illuminates the arc that ultimately led him to nearly two decades of influential service in Congress.
A Christmas Carol – 2025
Join the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future as they lead the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge on a journey of transformation and redemption. Originally conceived by Michael Baron, this music-infused production captures the magic and joy of Dickens’s Yuletide classic, with familiar characters, ghosts and a children’s ensemble in the spirit of the holidays. Acclaimed actor Craig Wallace returns to play Ebenezer Scrooge in Ford’s annual tradition heralded as a “rich visual and vocal treat” (TheaterMania) and “infectiously jolly” (The Washington Post).
Digital Program
Learn more about A Christmas Carol. Read the program before you see the performance.
Watch the Trailer
Pre-Show Description
Ford’s Theatre offers audio-described performances for all of our mainstage productions. Audio-described performances for A Christmas Carol are Thursday, December 4, 2025 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, December 12, 2025 at 2 p.m. This Pre-Show Description video includes information about the set and costumes.
Sensory Friendly Performance Materials
The American Five
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his inner circle imagined a pluralistic society in which equality and justice is guaranteed for all. In the face of surveillance, intimidation, arrests and life threats, five giants form a powerful coalition to advance civil rights and shape a defining moment in American history. Together, Dr. King, Coretta Scott King, Bayard Rustin, Stanley Levison and Clarence B. Jones plan the March on Washington and craft the speech that would galvanize the nation and inspire generations to advance America’s efforts to turn a dream into reality.
Digital Program
Learn more about The American Five. Read the program before you see the performance.
Watch the Trailer
Pre-Show Description
Ford’s Theatre offers audio-described performances for all of our mainstage productions. Audio-described performances for The American Five are Thursday, October 2, 2025 at 7 p.m. and October 11, 2025 at 2 p.m. This Pre-Show Description video includes information about the set and costumes.
Sister Act
Sister Act is a riotous musical comedy based on the hit 1992 film that has audiences jumping to their feet! To escape the mob, a nightclub singer hides in a convent. While there, she helps her new sisters to discover their powerful voices while she finds her own. This uplifting, Tony-nominated musical features original music by Alan Menken (Newsies, Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop of Horrors). It is directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun (Broadway: Newsies, Ford’s: Violet, The Civil War, Freedom’s Song, Shenandoah).
Digital Program
Learn more about Sister Act. Read the program before you see the performance.
Lesson Plan
Watch the Trailer
Pre-Show Description
Ford’s Theatre offers audio-described performances for all of our mainstage productions. Audio-described performances for Sister Act are Thursday, April 10, 2025 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 3, 2025 at 2 p.m. This Pre-Show Description video includes information about the set and costumes.
Sensory Friendly Performance Materials
The Ford’s Theatre Legacy Commissions: A First Look – 2025
This free, two-day festival provides a preview of new plays in development with members of our cohort of playwrights in The Ford’s Theatre Legacy Commissions initiative, with opportunities for expanded conversations around the work.
The Ford’s Theatre Legacy Commissions is designed to serve as an artistic incubator for stories about unsung heroes responsible for changing the course of of civil rights and equality in American life. A First Look provides unique access to works in their early stages – seeing the process and hearing the voices that created and shape these stories.
In its third year, this festival will include the following readings: Elysian Fields, book and lyrics by David Emerson Toney, music and lyrics by Christopher Youstra and directed by Craig Wallace (Fences, Necessary Sacrifices, Death of a Salesman, The Guard, Driving Miss Daisy), a Ford’s Theatre Associate Artist; The Soldier From the Antilles by Nilo Cruz and directed by José Carrasquillo, director of artistic programming at Ford’s Theatre; and Elizabeth Keckly & Mary Lincoln: The Last Morning by Gloria Reuben and directed by Sheldon Epps (SHOUT SISTER SHOUT!; My Lord, What a Night; Twelve Angry Men).
Senior Artistic Advisor Sheldon Epps, Director of Artistic Programming José Carrasquillo and The Ford’s Theatre Legacy Commissions Advisor Sydné Mahone lead the initiative. Learn more about each play below.
Come for the reading, stay for the conversation. Each play reading will be directly followed by a post-show discussion with members of the creative team.
Meet and Mingle: Join us January 11 after the lights dim on stage at Ella’s Wood Fired Kitchen, 610 9th St. NW, Washington DC 20004 for an intimate post-show gathering after Saturday night’s reading of Elizabeth Keckly & Mary Lincoln: The Last Morning. Meet the playwrights from the A First Look festival, members of the creative teams and mingle with fellow theatre enthusiasts. Don’t miss this chance to be part of the artistic conversation! Explore the inspiration, themes and writing process behind these new works while sharing your thoughts and questions in a casual, engaging setting. This event is open to all A First Look ticket holders and will directly follow Saturday night’s post-show audience dialogue.
Digital Program
Learn more about A First Look. Read the program before you see the performance.
Elysian Fields
Book and Lyrics by David Emerson Toney; Music and Lyrics by Christopher Youstra; Directed by Craig Wallace
Public Reading: January 10, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
In David’s Own Words:
Elysian Fields is a musical meditation on Shakespeare’s King Lear, that takes place in Reconstruction-era Alabama, post-Civil War. Seven years before the story begins, Hannibal Jenkins, the former owner of Elysian Fields, leaves his ten thousand acres of land to his eldest enslaved man, Bishop Carmichael, a plantation that now Bishop rules like a king. On the seventh anniversary of the inheritance, Bishop decides to divide the plantation among his three daughters: Delby (the youngest), Jindra (the middle daughter), and Nery (the eldest). The narrative of Elysian Fields tells the story of these three sisters and their father, Bishop, as they journey away from the dark secret of why Hannibal Jenkins, a man with unbridled hatred of his enslaved people, would leave his entire fortune to Bishop, and how that secret propels Bishop’s family through loss, faith, forgiveness, and redemption. It is not a story about slavery but an epic parable about the strength of ancestral love.
The Soldier From the Antilles
by Nilo Cruz; Directed by José Carrasquillo
Public Reading: January 11, 2025 at 2 p.m.
In Nilo’s Own Words:
The play is set in a hospital in Alexandria, Virginia during the American Civil War, 1864. A nurse who has lost her husband in the war becomes a caretaker to the wounded. She tends to the patients, writes letters for them, and reads to them from the classics. While reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley to a Union soldier afflicted by amnesia, Lottie seizes the conditions to make a new man—a being that can survive in an America who sees monsters in strangers and foreigners. But can the promise of this experiment be effective? What happens to the soldier from the Antilles when he is confronted by his brother, a Confederate warrior, who shares an honest reckoning with the past? Can they erase their past in an island where slavery and race hatred were also planted and took root? This play raises questions about love, guilt, and forgiveness, but is ultimately a much-needed story of hope, acceptance, and compassion. The Soldier from the Antilles is a stark reminder that there can be no reconciliation without a true and honest reckoning of the past. Only then can we hope to avoid repeating history and build a better future.
Elizabeth Keckly & Mary Lincoln: The Last Morning
by Gloria Reuben; Directed by Sheldon Epps
Public Reading: January 11, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
In Gloria’s Own Words:
Six weeks after President Lincoln is assassinated, Mary Lincoln, suffering from a crippling grief has ensconced herself in the Executive Residence. Elizabeth Keckly, a former slave who bought her own freedom and became a highly regarded modiste and dressmaker to Mary Lincoln during her years in the White House, temporarily closes her shop to spend as much time with Mary as possible. Elizabeth agrees to escort Mary back to Illinois when Mary acquiesces to vacate the White House so that President Johnson and his family can move in. The emotional bond that united these women began within a year of them knowing each other when they both lost a son. Although their upbringings could not have been more different, their emotional experiences were eerily similar. Knowing they might never have the chance to be alone again, I wanted to explore how these two strong women reconciled loss and tragedy while finding solace in what became a constant in their lives: their friendship.
A Christmas Carol – 2024
Originally conceived by Michael Baron, this music-infused production captures the magic and joy of Dickens’s Yuletide classic, with familiar characters, ghosts and a children’s ensemble in the spirit of the holidays. Acclaimed actor Craig Wallace returns to play Ebenezer Scrooge in the Ford’s annual tradition heralded as a “rich visual and vocal treat” (TheaterMania) and “infectiously jolly” (The Washington Post).
Digital Program
Learn more about A Christmas Carol. Read the program before you see the performance.
Watch the Trailer
Pre-Show Description
Ford’s Theatre offers audio-described performances for all of our mainstage productions. Audio-described performances for A Christmas Carol are Thursday, December 5, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 2 p.m. This Pre-Show Description video includes information about the set and costumes.
Sensory Friendly Performance Materials
Mister Lincoln
In this witty and revelatory one-man show, Scott Bakula is Abraham Lincoln. Mister Lincoln—as the President preferred to be called—shares stories of himself during some of our country’s most important historical events. From his personal perspective, first as a prairie lawyer and anti-slavery advocate in Illinois, to later in Washington as president of the United States, when he signs the Emancipation Proclamation and becomes the liberator, this insightful play leans on Lincoln’s own brilliant language to reveal surprising aspects of the life of one of our nation’s greatest president.
Digital Program
Learn more about Mister Lincoln. Read the program before you see the performance.
See the Trailer
Pre-Show Description
We offer audio-described performances for all of our mainstage productions. Audio-described performances for Mister Lincoln are Thursday, October 3, 2024 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, October 12, 2024 at 2 p.m. The Pre-Show Description video below includes information about the set and costumes.