Photo Flash: First Look at Arena Stage's MARY T. & LIZZY K.

Tazewell Thompson's world premiere drama Mary T. & Lizzy K. throws open the doors to the Lincoln White House at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. As one woman's skilled hands work overtime, creating the most beautiful garments of her career, the other's reality continues to slip ever further from her grasp. Old wounds and new recriminations explode in this riveting drama about loss, love and the importance of promises, both kept and broken.

A commission between Thompson (Arena directing credits include Caucasian Chalk Circle, M. Butterfly and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) and Arena Stage, Mary T. & Lizzy K. stitches together an insider's look at the unique friendship between Mary Todd Lincoln and her talented dressmaker, the successful freed slave Elizabeth "Lizzy" Keckly. Written and directed by Thompson, Mary T. & Lizzy K. runs now through April 28, 2013 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Mary T. & Lizzy K. stars D.C.-area actress Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln and Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris (Urban Stage's ReEntry) as Elizabeth Keckly. They are joined by noted local actors Thomas Adrian Simpson (last seen at Arena Stage as Col. Pickering in My Fair Lady) as Abraham Lincoln and Joy Jones (Studio Theatre's Invisible Man) as Ivy.

Tazewell Thompson (Playwright/Director), who, since 1988, was an artistic associate and resident director under Zelda Fichandler and then with Doug Wager, and now as a guest artist with Molly Smith, has directed close to two dozen productions at Arena Stage, including Caucasian Chalk Circle, Playboy of the West Indies, Glass Menagerie, Fences, Bloodknot, M. Butterfly, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, On the Verge, Yellowman and his own play, Constant Star. He has directed numerous productions in theaters across the country, including several world and American premieres. His international opera credits in select cities include work in Milan, Madrid, Paris, Tokyo, Vancouver, Los Angeles and San Francisco, directing Carmen, Death in Venice, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Norma, Patience, The Tender Land, Street Scene, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Don Giovanni, The Second Hurricane and Pearl Fishers. His New York City Opera production of Porgy and Bess received Emmy nominations for Best Director and Best Classical production. Most recently, he directed Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars for Cape Town Opera and Glimmerglass Festival.

The Cast of Mary T. & Lizzy K. (in alphabetical order): Joy Jones (Ivy) has performed locally at Studio Theatre, Washington Stage Guild, Theatre of the First Amendment and American Century Theatre. In New York, she has performed in Zaide at the Lincoln Center Festival, among others. Joy's regional acting credits include Ruined and Tantalus at The Denver Center; Well, The Little Prince, Young Lady From Rwanda, Pride & Prejudice, Nicholas Nickleby, Pericles and Romeo and Juliet at PlayMakers Repertory Company; and Romeo & Juliet and The Tempest at Arkansas Repertory Theatre, as well as work at Georgia Repertory Theatre and Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey. Internationally, she appeared in Tantalus with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her television credits include Homicide on NBC and Tantalus and The Shakespeare Sessions on PBS. Joy holds an MFA from UNC-Chapel Hill/PlayMakers Repertory, a BA in Drama from the University of Virginia and a Certificate in Classical Acting from the British American Drama Academy.

Naomi Jacobson (Mary Todd Lincoln) is delighted to return to Arena Stage, having performed in A View from the Bridge, Death of a Salesman, The Misanthrope, The Women and Agamemnon and His Daughters, among others. Most recently, she performed at Centerstage in The Final Strange Tale of Edgar Allen Poe and at Signature Theatre in God of Carnage. Other Washington credits include Woolly Mammoth Theatre (20 year company member), Shakespeare Theatre Company (a dozen productions), Round House Theatre, Ford's Theatre, Kennedy Center, Folger Theatre, Olney Theatre and Wolf Trap Opera. She's worked at the Goodman Theatre (with Mary Zimmerman), Arizona Theatre Company, Milwaukee Repertory, Delaware Theatre Company and the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Naomi has received a Lunt Fontanne Fellowship (with Lynn Redgrave), two Helen Hayes Awards and 12 Helen Hayes nominations.

Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris (Elizabeth Keckly) Off-Broadway credits include The Emperor Jones (Irish Repertory Theatre; Soho Playhouse) and ReEntry (Urban Stages). New York credits include Lady Percy (The Public Theater/Shakespeare Lab 2012), Unheard Voices (American Slavery Project), Fefu and Her Friends (Culture Project), Come Back to Me (Cherry Lane Theatre), A Raisin in the Sun, Jaques in As You Like It, Adriana in A Comedy of Errors and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. Regional credits include ReEntry (Actors Theatre of Louisville; Baltimore Centerstage; Round House Theatre; Two River Theatre), Doubt (Asolo Repertory Theatre; Cape May Stage), Equus and The Constant Wife (Asolo Repertory Theatre). TV/film credits include The Bravest, The Boldest; The Good Wife; and The Bitter End.

Thomas Adrian Simpson (Abraham Lincoln) returns to Arena Stage, where he was last seen as Col. Pickering in My Fair Lady. Other Arena appearances include The Light in the Piazza, The Fantasticks, The Great White Hope, The Seagull, Antigone in New York and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Tom's recent D.C.-area performances include Ed Earl in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Von Golum in The Boy Detective Fails (Signature Theatre); Witherspoon in 1776 and King Louis XVI in LiberTy Smith (Ford's Theatre); and Candide and The Boys from Syracuse (Shakespeare Theatre Company). Regional credits include Candide (Goodman Theatre) and Papa Charlie in Shenandoah and Quixote in The Man of La Mancha (Wayside Theatre). Tom is a graduate of the NC School of the Arts.

The creative team for Mary T. & Lizzy K. includes Set Designer Donald Eastman, Costume Designer Merrily Murray Walsh, Lighting Designer Robert Wierzel, Sound Design & Composition by Fabian Obispo, Stage Manager Scott Pomerico and Production Assistant Kristen Harris.

Tickets for Mary T. & Lizzy K. are $40-$85, subject to change and based on availability, plus applicable fees. Tickets may be purchased online at arenastage.org, by phone at 202-488-3300 or at the Sales Office at 1101 Sixth St., SW, D.C.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is a national center dedicated to the production, presentation, development and study of American theater. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Director Edgar Dobie, Arena Stage is the largest company in the country dedicated to American plays and playwrights. Arena Stage produces huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit, and presents diverse and ground-breaking work from some of the best artists around the country. Arena Stage is committed to commissioning and developing new plays through the American Voices New Play Institute. Now in its seventh decade, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 300,000. For more information, visit arenastage.org.

Photo Credit: Scott Suchman

Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris as Elizabeth Keckly, Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln and Thomas Adrian Simpson as Abraham Lincoln

Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris as Elizabeth Keckly and Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln

Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris as Elizabeth Keckly, Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln and Joy Jones as Ivy in Arena Stage

Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris as Elizabeth Keckly, Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln, Thomas Adrian Simpson as Abraham Lincoln and Joy Jones as Ivy

Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln and Thomas Adrian Simpson as Abraham Lincoln

Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln

Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris as Elizabeth Keckly

Thomas Adrian Simpson as Abraham Lincoln

Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln

Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln

Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln

Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris as Elizabeth Keckly, Naomi Jacobson as Mary Todd Lincoln, Joy Jones as Ivy and Thomas Adrian Simpson as Abraham Lincoln