Watch an interview with Director Paul Tetreault about our 2009-2010 season.

Black Pearl Sings!
by Frank Higgins
directed by Jennifer L. Nelson
September 25-October 18, 2009

Susannah, a song collector for the Library of Congress, travels the country seeking little-known melodies. When she encounters Pearl in a Texas prison, she discovers dozens of musical treasures rooted in the African tradition. Pearl must decide whether to give away her ancestors’ songs for a chance at her own freedom. Music unites strangers in a powerful story that illuminates America’s racial divisions and the attempts of two women to bridge them. Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins makes her Ford’s Theatre debut in the title role with Erika Rolfsrud as Susannah.  Jennifer L. Nelson returns to direct for the first time since her critically acclaimed production of Jitney.

A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
adapted by Michael Wilson
directed by Michael Baron
November 23, 2009-January 3, 2010

Ford’s Theatre presents a new production of A Christmas Carol that reinvigorates this timeless tale. Join the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future as they lead the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge on a journey of transformation and redemption. Signature Theatre’s Michael Baron directs a new staging that captures the magic and joy of Dickens’ classic. Acclaimed Washington stage actor Edward Gero (Shakespeare Theatre Company’s King Lear, Round House’s Nixon’s Nixon) will play Scrooge.

The Rivalry
by Norman Corwin
directed by Mark Ramont
January 22- February 14, 2010

Over the course of seven debates, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas tackled the hot topics of their day: state’s rights, slavery and the intent of the Constitution. The Rivalry captures the fiery rhetoric and wry humor of those debates, while adding the insights of Douglas’s wife, Adele. As Lincoln and Douglas race for the chance to be U.S. Senator, Adele reexamines her own concepts of freedom. Ford’s Theatre Director of Theatre Programming Mark Ramont directs Helen Hayes Award winner Rick Foucheux and Sarah Zimmerman (The Matchmaker) in the play The New York Times calls “evocative, inspiring, and stirring theatre.”

Mark Russell
February 17-20, 2010

Piano-playing political satirist Mark Russell returns to Ford’s Theatre with material ripped from today’s headlines. Known for skewering Democrats and Republicans alike, Russell’s unique brand of comedy earned him the Mark Twain Award for political comedy and has made him a popular favorite on PBS. See the man TV Guide calls “the funniest man on television” on the historic Ford’s Theatre stage.

Little Shop of Horrors
by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman
directed by Coy Middlebrook
choreographed by Karma Camp
March 12-May 22, 2010

One of the most popular musicals of all time, Little Shop of Horrors tells the story of the well-meaning flower shop employee Seymour Krelborn and his wisecracking carnivorous plant, Audrey II. Seymour delights in the attention his leafy friend attracts, but when Audrey II develops a craving for human flesh, the situation spins out of control. Coy Middlebrook, a key member of the artistic team for Shenandoah and Big River, makes his Ford’s directorial debut with this zany American classic.  Husband-and-wife team Christopher Kale Jones and Jenna Coker-Jones make their Ford’s Theatre debut as Seymour and Audrey.

One Destiny
By Richard Hellesen
October 6-24, 2009
March  22-May 22, 2010
In Richard Hellesen’s one-act play One Destiny, comedic actor Harry Hawk and co-owner of Ford’s Theatre Harry Ford grapple with whether they could have changed the course of history. Could John Wilkes Booth have been stopped? Revisit April 14, 1865, and the events surrounding the tragic assassination of Abraham Lincoln through the eyes of the men who were there when history happened.

Ford’s Theatre Stages Built by The Home Depot
Chevron, a 2009-2010 Season Sponsor