Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan's Fly, a Washington, DC, premiere, looks at the "Tuskegee Airmen" of World War II. Khan directs the play as the second-year offering of the ongoing Lincoln Legacy Project, Ford's Theatre's "effort to create dialogue around the issues of tolerance, equality and acceptance."
Michael Baron's resident production of A Christmas Carol will also return to the history-touched playhouse in Washington, DC.
The previously announced Hello, Dolly!, inspired by Thornton Wilder source material (namely, The Matchmaker), is a co-production with Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA.
Ford's also presents the History on Foot walking tour Investigation: Detective McDevitt September to October 2012 and March through August 2013.
The Society also plans to continue its popular daytime one-act production One Destiny by Richard Hellesen in the spring of 2013. Here's Ford's Theatre's season at a glance:
Fly
By Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan
Directed by Ricardo Khan
Sept. 21-Oct. 21
"Based on the experiences of the Tuskegee Airmen, Fly is the powerful story of four African-American military pioneers who proved themselves as officers and pilots during World War II. The play follows these courageous heroes hailing from Chicago, Harlem, rural Iowa and the Caribbean as they train to fly combat aircraft. In spite of the overt racism they encounter, the men form a lasting brotherhood and fly with distinction, paving the way for the desegregation of the American military and the later Civil Rights Movement. The production inventively combines live action, video footage and the inspirational 'Tap Griot,' a dancing storyteller who expresses the anger, fear and triumph that the officers cannot."
A Christmas Carol
By Charles Dickens
Adapted by Michael Wilson
Directed by Michael Baron
Nov. 16-Dec. 30
"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' Yuletide classic. Acclaimed Washington stage actor Edward Gero returns to play Scrooge."
Our Town
By Thornton Wilder
Directed by Stephen Rayne
Jan. 18-Feb. 17, 2013
"Set in the serene New England town of Grover's Corners, Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama presents a timeless commentary on the transience of human existence. Teenagers George and Emily meet, fall in love, marry — and suffer the slings and arrows of everyday life. Wilder transforms their ordinary story into a poignant and captivating exploration of mortality and the interconnectivity of human beings. Stephen Rayne (The Heavens Are Hung In Black, Sabrina Fair and Parade) directs a multi-ethnic cast in celebration of the play's 75th-anniversary year."
Hello, Dolly!
Book by Michael Stewart
Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman
Directed by Eric Schaffer
March 15-May 18, 2013
"In the Tony-winning musical farce Hello, Dolly!, the cantankerous half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder hires matchmaker Dolly Levi to find him a wife. Dolly soon hatches a plan to woo and win Vandergelder's hand herself, while simultaneously arranging romantic prospects for his niece, his clerks and two of Manhattan's most eligible shop girls."
For more information on Ford's Theatre and the Ford's Theatre Society, please visit www.fords.org.
