Was Mr. Lincoln okay?

So, before the holiday rush really starts, Shawn and I had the opportunity to see a national landmark and a Christmas tradition at the same time: the annual production of A Christmas Carol at Ford’s Theatre.

As some of you may have known (and I may have already mentioned), I spent the last two Christmases running wardrobe for the production of A Christmas Carol at Trinity Rep. It was draining, to say the least, but I’ve found that I’m missing it a little this year. So Shawn surprised me by getting tickets to the production here. A slightly different production (no Food Song), but very much the same (a game of Yes and No).

The really cool part was that it was performed at Ford’s Theatre. Only the most famous historical theatre in the country! It’s a really nice theatre, especially considering how old it is. It’s much smaller than today’s theatres, which makes you feel like you’re right there in the action. And then there’s the interesting and slightly creepy fact that while you’re watching the play, you can basically look into the booth where President Lincoln was sitting when we was shot. I know you all know the story, but have you ever wondered exactly how Booth jumped onto the stage after shooting the President? Well, I can tell you now, it really wasn’t that far of a jump. Lincoln was practically part of Our American Cousin. I tried to get a good photo of it, but I was using the phone in my camera, so it doesn’t really do it justice.

So the play….it was really good. I’m a little bit embarrassed to say that even though I’ve seen/heard A Christmas Carol over 100 times, I still tear up a bit at parts. Especially when I’m not busy throwing clothes on somebody. It was really interesting to see how things were done differently with this production – some for better and some for worse. All in all, it was a great evening.