The Civil War
May 15, 2009
The Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC before the presentation of 'The Civil War'
A couple weeks ago, at the invitation of a friend from my faith community, I went to the Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC to see The Civil War. This Tony-nominated musical directed by Jeff Calhoun, I have to say, was quite entertaining.
The performance, according to the information booklet attempted to “put a human face on (this) American tragedy”, telling the stories of Confederate and Union Soldiers, slaves and abolitionists. The director and his cast did a good job at this, drawing from many musical genres including, but not limited to gospel, country, blues and rock.
It would be remiss of me to not mention the ‘religious’ experience of this performance. Many a time, with the many rousing gospel renditions, I felt like I was in Sunday Morning ‘Black church’. I’m pretty sure that a few in the appreciative audience caught the spirit. Well, maybe not. But, the gospel music was well done. Well done.
Now ‘The Civil War’ would not take the prize for substance, but I’d give it a ‘B plus’ for entertainment value. It is certainly worth the stop if you happen to be the Washington, DC area up until May 24, the last showing. Tickets can be found on the Ford’s Theater web site at www.fordstheatre.org
Akhenaton
mail@pharaohsprotege.com
