Ford’s Theatre is a space that lives in the collective imagination, but one that Ford’s artists are intimately acquainted with. Writer and BIPOC Critics Lab Fellow Rishi Mutalik spoke with Ford’s actors, designers, directors and staff to discover what makes the historic theatre and site of President Lincoln’s assassination so very special.

Why doesn’t Ford’s Theatre stage Our American Cousin, the play during which John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln? Read on to learn five reasons why.

Following friend (and racketeer) Arnold Rothstein’s murder, Damon Runyon used Rothstein’s trial as inspiration to write stories in a perpetual present tense. Runyon found his home in his fictional Runyonland, a place created from his observations of Broadway’s nightlife. Learn more about the origins of the classic musical Guys and Dolls in this post.

Henrietta Swan Leavitt made a discovery that forever changed how astronomers understand the universe. Learn about Leavitt’s journey to solving one of the biggest questions in astronomical history and the impact her findings hold today.

Starting March 13, 2020, Ford’s Theatre presents a new production of the classic American musical Guys and Dolls, directed by Peter Flynn. We spoke with our four leads, Maria Egler, Joe Mallon, Bueka Uwemedimo and Karen Vincent, about their roles and what songs they already have playing in their heads.

During her career, Henrietta Swan Leavitt catalogued more than 2,400 variable stars—about half of the known total in her day, without ever looking through a telescope. She catalogued alongside Williamina Fleming for the first part of her time at Harvard College Observatory and then with Annie Jump Cannon. With this production, Ford’s Theatre celebrates their contributions and accomplishments.

Henrietta Leavitt and her fellow colleagues at the Harvard Observatory examined thousands of tiny dots. Through that tedious and solitary work, they forever changed our understanding of the universe. This story is “a feminist, historical fiction told sweetly and wondrously” by Lauren Gunderson.

In 1979, Ford's Theatre produced our first production of this Charles Dickens classic. Today, this show has become a beloved holiday tradition for many in the Washington area. As we celebrate our 600th performance of this production on Tuesday, November 26, 2019, let’s take a look at some of the stage magic by-the-numbers.

What really made me want to write a play about Henrietta is that her story was not only about one brilliant woman but an entire cohort of women who [were] Harvard “computers.” This was a story about a sisterhood. In this play we also get to know Annie Jump Cannon and Williamina Fleming, [and] other astronomers that worked with Henrietta.

In writing A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens imagined a story that folks could return to again and again. He thought he could easily achieve this if he had the novel illustrated. For the task, Dickens chose John Leech, a caricaturist and illustrator known for his humor and satirical bent.