Ford's Theatre

I love DC... and one of the things I love the most is the history here. My friend Janie came into town and one of her friends is in a play that is premiering in Ford's Theatre, so I thought it would be fun to join her and go see the play 1776. 1776 is a play about Philadelphia's Second Continental Congress and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The play was good (it had a few parts that didn't need to be there) but overall it was great and I learned about history while watching, which was a two-fer. But the coolest part was that after the show, we met up with Janie's friend and he took us backstage and actually up on stage to take pictures.

Just a bit of back story... this is the theater that Abraham Lincoln was shot. The box where Abraham Lincoln and his wife sat is still there and decorated in memorandum. It's cool because you see a picture of George Washington... in that day they didn't have a presidential seal, and the picture of George Washington was the symbol of the president. (I didn't know that... and asked one of the theater people about that). So here is what we saw...

This is the stage (we are up on stage taking the picture)... the set was made to look like that of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, PA.

This is Abraham Lincoln's booth off to the left of the stage (notice the picture of George Washington).

This is me with my friend Janie, and Matthew Anderson who was the delegate for NY in the play 1776.

Brian and I

This is the escape route that John Wilkes Booth used to get away... he was an actor in Ford's Theatre so he knew the ins and outs of the theatre (this is right behind the back stage wall).

Matthew is explaining to us that after he ran down that narrow hall, this is the door he escaped out of where his horse was waiting.

Brian and I in front of Ford's Theatre