Review: “Freedom’s Song” at Ford’s Theatre
"Freedom's Song" at Ford's Theatre is a don't miss, "only-in-Washington" kind of show
Photo by Scott Suchman
Freedom’s Song is the second consecutive production staged at Ford’s Theatre to directly reference the box in which President Lincoln was shot. Obviously not every show at Ford’s could do this — and no other show I’ve seen there in recent years has. (Chalk it up to the assassination’s sesquicentennial.) But maybe more should? As demonstrated in both this musical and James Still’s drama The Widow Lincoln, it’s a poignant, awe-inspiring device, one that helps you better appreciate the singular, “only-in-Washington” experience.
You’ll appreciate that fact well before the sound of a gun stuns the cast silent and you’ll grasp the show’s utter-Washingtonness the moment it starts, as the clarion voice of Nova Y. Payton rings through the historic theater as the show’s Storyteller. You’ll sense it again when Kevin McAllister’s rich basso voice makes you feel every ache of the Fugitive’s “Father, How Long?” With a 21-person cast, including many of D.C. theater’s very best — Tracy Lynn Olivera, Stephen Gregory Smith and Chris Sizemore among them — Freedom’s Song could be a dog of a show and still you’d feel grateful for the opportunity to have seen it.
Six years ago Ford’s staged a different version of the work, with lyrics by Jack Murphy and a book by Gregory Boyd and Frank Wildhorn based on historical letters, blandly called The Civil War. The show was panned. I never saw it, but I also wasn’t eager to hear another Wildhorn score after catching his schlocky Jekyll & Hyde.
Mercifully, Freedom’s Song is refined and thoroughly reinvigorating, from its stirring, American blend of folk, country, gospel and blues, to the affecting and well-realized incorporation of Lincoln’s writings and speeches. The production team, led by director Jeff Calhoun, suitably inserts Lincoln into the mix — the outlines of his White House office is the centerpiece of Tobin Ost’s evocative set.
Even with some tweaks in character development, Freedom’s Song remains more of a stylized, impressionistic revue than a straightforward, narrative musical. It makes a strong impression — so strong that you might want to see it a second time, to catch anything you missed. Because ultimately, it’s a “can’t miss” kind of show.
Freedom’s Song (
) runs to May 20 at Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St. NW. Tickets are $20 to $69. Call 800-982-2787 or visit fordstheatre.org.
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