Cast and Creatives Set For Ford's Theatre Society's MISTER LINCOLN

Ford's Theatre Director Paul R. Tetreault announced the cast and creative team of Herbert Mitgang's Mister Lincoln. The one-person show portrays a determined president with a moral compass, but also a regular man, with a human side as he moves from private citizen to public servant, from advocate and powerful orator to President and liberator. Award winning actor Scott Bakula (Ford's: Shenandoah. Off-Broadway: The Connector. Broadway: Marilyn: An American Fable, Romance/Romance (Tony Nom.)) stars as Abraham Lincoln.

“We are incredibly excited to open our 24-25 season with Herbert Mitgang's Mister Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. This remarkable play brings our mission to life, by allowing us to explore Lincoln's legacy and connect audiences around the intersection of theatre, history and education of our beloved 16th President,” said Ford's Theatre Director Paul R. Tetreault. “One of our generation's most versatile actors, Scott Bakula brings his on-screen charisma and talent to our stage in what will be one of the most memorable performances as President Abraham Lincoln.”

“Audiences will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see President Lincoln come to life on Ford's historic stage in a play that shows a humble, witty and human side to one of the best-known American presidents,” said director José Carrasquillo, who also serves as Ford's Theatre Director of Artistic Programming.

Performances of the play begin September 20 and continue through October 13, 2024.

Tickets for performances of Mister Lincoln are now on sale and range from $26 to $53. Discounts are available for groups, senior citizens, military personnel and those between the ages of 21 and 40. The production is recommended for ages 12 and older.

Mister Lincoln is generously supported by Lead Sponsor: Boeing and Sponsors: Intuit and Meta. The Ford's Theatre 2024-2025 season is generously sponsored by Chevron and Lockheed Martin Corporation.

About Mister Lincoln

In this witty and revelatory one-man show starring Scott Bakula as President Abraham Lincoln, shares stories of himself during some of our country's most important historical events. From his own personal perspective, first as a prairie lawyer and anti-slavery advocate in Illinois, to later in Washington as president of the United States, when he signs the Emancipation Proclamation and becomes the liberator, this insightful play leans on Lincoln's own brilliant language to reveal surprising aspects of the life of one of our nation's greatest presidents. The American premiere of Mister Lincoln played at Ford's Theatre in 1980.

The Playwright

Herbert Mitgang (Playwright) (1920-2013), author of Mister Lincoln, was an award-winning journalist, historian, dramatist, novelist and TV documentarian. During 47 years at The New York Times, he served on the editorial board, was a book critic and helped found the Op-Ed page. A noted Lincoln scholar and Fellow of the Society of American Historians, his 17 books include Abraham Lincoln: A Press Portrait and The Fiery Trial. Mitgang also wrote Adlai, Alone, a play profiling presidential candidate Adlai E. Stevenson. Mister Lincoln had its world premiere at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Canada. It had its American premiere at Ford's Theatre in 1980, and was the first PBS drama taped for Hallmark Hall of Fame.

The Director

José Carrasquillo (Director) recent credits include: A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theatre, In His Hands at Mosaic Theatre Company, Lynn Nottage's Mlima's Tale at 1st Stage, Rhinoceros at Tantrum Theatre in Athens, Ohio and Flash Acts: Untranslatable– an international collaboration with Forum for Cultural Engagement. José is the proud recipient of several awards including a Mary Goldwater Theatre Lobby Award for his direction of The Maids at (WSC) Avant-Bard, the 2020 Helen Hayes Award for his direction of The Brothers Size at 1st Stage and GALA Hispanic Theatre's Abel López Leadership Award. He serves as the Director of Artistic Programming at Ford's Theatre.

The Cast

Scott Bakula (Abraham Lincoln) has been recognized for his work in a variety of mediums including feature films, television, and theatre. His vast television body of work includes leading roles in NCIS: New Orleans, Star Trek: Enterprise, Men of a Certain Age, and Quantum Leap where he played Sam Beckett. His work on Quantum Leap earned Bakula a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Series, four Emmy Award nominations and three more Golden Globe Award nominations. Recently, he made a surprise cameo in the fourth season premiere of Only Murders in the Building, streaming now. Other credits include recurring roles in Chuck, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Looking, Desperate Housewives, Designing Women, and Murphy Brown. Bakula was nominated for an Emmy for his supporting role in the HBO Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra, which won Emmy and Golden Globe awards.

On the big screen, Bakula has been seen in a broad range of feature films, including 1999's Oscar-winning Best Picture American Beauty, for director Sam Mendes; Irwin Winkler's The Informant, opposite Matt Damon; Clive Barker's supernatural thriller Lord of Illusions; Major League: Back to the Minors; Mi Familia (My Family); A Passion to Kill; Color of Night with Bruce Willis; the football comedy Necessary Roughness; Carl Reiner's Sibling Rivalry; Basmati Blues opposite Brie Larson; Life as a House opposite Kevin Kline; Divinity; Elsa and Fred starring opposite Christopher Plummer and Shirley MacLaine and Role of a Lifetime. He was also heard as the voice of Danny the cat in the animated musical Cats Don't Dance.

Throughout his career, Bakula has continued to work in the theatre appearing at the Hollywood Bowl as ‘Nathan Detroit' in a limited run of the musical Guys and Dolls featuring Jessica Biel; Dancing in the Dark at San Diego's Old Globe Theater; Quality of Life at The Geffen Playhouse; No Strings at UCLA's Freud Playhouse; a production of the Tony Award-winning musical Shenandoah at the historic Ford's Theater in Washington, DC; An Evening with Scott Bakula for Ford's Theatre; the off-Broadway and Los Angeles productions of Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down; the Los Angeles and Boston productions of Nite Club Confidential; the UK world premiere of Terrible Advice; starring as Joe DiMaggio in Marilyn: An American Fable; and Romance/Romance (Tony Nom.) Most recently Bakula was seen in the off-Broadway hit, The Connector and with his wife, Chelsea Field in the Peterborough Players production of Man of LaMancha where he played Don Quixote and she played Aldonza. Bakula's considerable singing talent has been showcased in performances and venues across the country including Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center Honors.

Paul Morella (Abraham Lincoln u/s) Ford's: Necessary Sacrifices. Regional: Arena: Tempestuous Elements; All My Sons; Orpheus Descending. Studio Theatre: If I Forget; Chimerica; Two Sisters; Imagine Drowning; Romeo & Juliet; North Shore Fish. Signature Theatre: Angels in America (I and II); God of Carnage; Shooting in Madrid. Olney: A Christmas Carol (15 years); Anne Frank; Awake and Sing; The Crucible; Mary Stuart. D.C. area: Folger: Macbeth; Richard III. Kennedy Center: Teddy Roosevelt. Woolly Mammoth: Grace; Quills; Big Death & Little Death; After Ashley; Watbanaland; Christmas on Mars. Shakespeare: Julius Caesar; King John. Training: Washington & Lee University; Catholic University.

The Designers

Misha Kachman (Scenic Designer) Ford's debut. New York: Lincoln Center, TFANA, 59E59. D.C.-Area: Arena, Kennedy Center, Signature, Studio, Olney (Affiliated Artist), Round House, Imagination Stage, Mosaic, Theater J, Woolly Mammoth (Company Member). Regional: Arizona Theatre Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Berkeley Rep, CTC, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, Court Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Seattle Rep, Syracuse Stage, Village Theatre, Wilma Theater. OPERA: Seattle Opera, Opera Lafayette, Opera Royal Versailles. Affiliations: Professor, Head of MFA in Design, University of Maryland.

Veronica Stevens (Costume Designer)

Matthew Taylor (Lighting Designer) Ford's: A Christmas Carol, Regional: Orlando Ballet: Sleeping Beauty, The Great Gatsby; Madison Opera: Candide; Sundance Summer Theatre: Cinderella, Footloose, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Detroit Public Theatre: Eight Nights, Holiday Cabaret; The Purple Rose Theatre: Human Error, The Antichrist Cometh; Salt Lake Acting Company: Yoga Play, A Doll's House Part II.

Sarah O'Halloran (Sound Designer) Ford's debut. Theater J: The Hatmaker's Wife, This Much I Know, The Chameleon, Gloria: A Life, Compulsion, Nathan the Wise and Talley's Folly; Olney: The Brothers Paranormal, Our Town and Labour of Love; Woolly Mammoth: She the People: The Resistance Continues; 1st Stage: The Phlebotomist, The Brothers Size, Swimming with Whales; Studio Theatre: Cry it Out; Everyman: Sense and Sensibility, Be Here Now, Proof, Dinner with Friends; Mosaic: In His Hands and The Return.

Richard Hellesen (Production Dramaturg); Playwright: Necessary Sacrifices, One Destiny, Freedom's Song (co-book writer), Investigation: Detective McDevitt, The Road From Appomattox, Now He Belongs to the Ages (2015 Lincoln Commemoration), Annual Gala 2019, 2022-24. Off-Broadway: Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground, Theatre at St. Clement's. Regional: South Coast Repertory, Denver Center, Olney Theatre Center, Florida Stage, Syracuse Stage, Sacramento Theatre Company, City Theatre (Miami), Los Angeles Repertory Company, Imagination Stage, People's Light & Theatre, B Street Theatre, Sundance Children's Theatre. Playwriting Awards: National Theatre Conference, Philadelphia Festival Theatre, PEN USA-West, Beverly Hills Theatre Guild. Playwright-in-Residence: William Inge Center for the Arts.

Rachel Hirshorn-Johnston (Dialects and Voice Direction); Assoc. Professor of Voice & Speech and Head of Acting & Directing at Texas Tech, Assoc. Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework. Rachel coaches regionally in professional theatre, with private clients (corporate, government) on presentation skills and dialect modification, performs regularly around the country and internationally, and is an active member of VASTA, PAVA, and AEA. Training: MFA, Acting and Directing, UMKC; BFA, Acting, UMBC.

Accessibility and Special Performances

At Ford's Theatre, we are committed to ensuring visitors of all abilities can experience the performances, exhibits, history and programs our site has to offer. Ford's Theatre is accessible to persons with disabilities, offering wheelchair accessible seating in both the rear orchestra and balcony sections, accessible restrooms and audio enhancement. For more, visit the accessibility page on our website.

Audio-described performances of Mister Lincoln are Thursday, October 3 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, October 12 at 2 p.m. An ASL sign-interpreted performance is scheduled for Thursday, October 10 at 7 p.m. Accessible seating is available in the rear orchestra.

Beginning Friday, September 20, 2024, all performances of Mister Lincoln will be captioned via the GalaPro App. GalaPro is available from the App Store or Google Play and allows patrons to access captioning on demand through their phone or tablet device. Patrons can set their phones to airplane mode and connect to the local GalaPro WiFi network before the performance begins. More information at www.fords.org/visit/accessibility/galapro-captioning.

Free First Preview: September 20, 2024, at 7:30 p.m.
Ford's Theatre Partners with TodayTix to give out free tickets for the first performance of each mainstage production in our theatrical season. Tickets are available via the TodayTix app, beginning 10 a.m. ET on September 13 for the September 20 at 7:30 p.m. performance of Mister Lincoln. Visit our website at www.fords.org/whats-happening/discounts/first-free-preview for lottery entry details. Discounts are available for groups, senior citizens, military personnel and young professionals are available.

Teacher Preview Workshop: September 24, 2024 at 7 p.m.
Student matinees for Mister Lincoln are on Friday, September 27, 2024 and October 3, 2024 at 12 p.m. Learn more on the Ford's Theatre website.

Public Programs

As a companion to the production, we are offering virtual and in-person programming to delve deeper into the history and theatrical perspectives of this piece.

Lincoln, A Life in Documents
Virtual Program: Sep. 18, 2024 at 7 p.m.
Join Ford's Theatre Education and Michelle A. Krowl, Civil War and Reconstruction specialist, for this live virtual journey into the Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress. Participants will explore key moments illuminated by the records Lincoln left behind, gaining unique insights into his personality, leadership, and the impact he made on American history. Learn more here.

Written Then, Spoken Now: Mister Lincoln
In-person program: Oct. 1, 2024 at 7 p.m.
Experience the convergence of history and theatre as we dive into the world of Mister Lincoln, by Herbert Mitgang. Dramaturg and Playwright Richard Hellesen and Michelle A. Krowl of the Library of Congress illuminate the craft of bringing historical figures to life through theatre and selections from the archives of the Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress. Learn more here.

From Quill to Curtain: Writing a Solo Show
In-person program: Oct. 8, 2024 at 6 p.m.
Inspired by our current production Mister Lincoln, this single session playwriting Master Class is designed for playwrights who desire to create unique narratives channeled through one performer. Whether you are a seasoned writer looking to explore a new format or an emerging artist taking charge of their own power as a storyteller, this session will provide you with the tools and inspiration needed to bring your solo performance to life. Learn more here.

Ford's Theatre Society
One of the most visited sites in the nation's capital, Ford's Theatre reopened its doors in 1968, more than a hundred years after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Operated through a partnership between Ford's Theatre Society and the National Park Service, Ford's Theatre is the premier destination in the nation's capital to explore and celebrate Abraham Lincoln's life and legacy.

Ford's Theatre Society was founded under the guidance of executive producer Frankie Hewitt, who, during her 35-year tenure, established Ford's as a living, Working Theatre producing performances that highlighted the diversity of the American experience. Since the arrival of Paul R. Tetreault as Director, critics and the theatre-going public have recognized Ford's for the superior quality of its artistic programming. With works from the Tony-nominated Come From Away and the nationally acclaimed Big River, to the world premieres of Grace, Meet John Doe, The Heavens Are Hung In Black, Liberty Smith, Necessary Sacrifices, The Widow Lincoln and The Guard, Ford's Theatre is making its mark on the American theatre landscape. Under the current leadership of Board of Trustees Chairman Phebe N. Novakovic and through the lens of Lincoln's leadership and legacy, Ford's today endeavors to advance Lincoln's “unfinished work” with programs and performances that cultivate empathy, encourage dialogue and bridge divides in American life.

For more information on Ford's Theatre and the Ford's Theatre Society, please visit www.fords.org.

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