You may be familiar with costumed interpreters at historic sites. Or perhaps you have seen reenactors at Gettysburg or other Civil War battlefields. But only at Ford’s Theatre can you see history come to life through fully staged theatre productions.

More than 1,000 D.C.-area students attendour student matinee performances each year. LaMar Bagley, Ed.D., Director of Student Life for The SEED School of Washington, D.C., has brought his classes for 10 years. LaMar says the experience teaches his students critical thinking and allows them to draw correlations between the history told on stage and their own lives.

The musical Ragtime tells a story set just after the turn of the 20th century, when the United States became known as a melting pot. As we see in the musical, Americans of this era experienced great social upheaval as a new century dawned.

During spring 2017, Ford’s Theatre presents Ragtime, an epic Tony-winning musical based on E. L. Doctorow’s celebrated novel about three families striving for the American dream. We spoke with director Peter Flynn about his thoughts on the play’s expansive musical score, striking relevancy and confrontation of both unbridled optimism and the stark reality of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

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. 

Ford’s Theatre wants to be a part of your classroom in 2016-2017. Learn how to enhance your visit and how Ford's can come virtually to you!