Who says old age has to be boring? The National Theatre (1321 Pennsylvania Avenue), the nation’s longest operating major touring house, celebrates its 175th birthday this year. The historic theatre has endured two fires and a friendly ghost whose spirit reportedly roams the playhouse on the eve of opening night performances. Talk about drama, intrigue and merriment!
Established in 1835, the National Theatre is an important cultural resource as well as a showcase for popular Broadway shows. Located just two blocks from the White House, the “Theatre of Presidents” boasts that every single US president has attended performances there since it opening. Will Barack Obama follow suit? Time will tell.
“Any theatre that’s been attracting audiences for 175 years must be doing something right,” says Dr. Donn B. Murphy, the National Theatre’s president and executive director. He adds the playhouse has been around since before Abraham Lincoln, who visited the theatre perhaps more than any other president, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
The National has a rich and illustrious past. Nearly every great stage performer of the past century—from Helen Hayes and Laurence Olivier to Cab Calloway and Pearl Bailey—has appeared there. So has notorious assassin and actor John Wilkes Booth. Both Shirley MacLaine and her brother, Warren Beatty, worked there, as an usher and stage doorman, respectively. And legend has it that a fellow actor allegedly shot and murdered actor John McCullough in the basement. It is his spirit that haunts the place and reportedly once sat in the audience.
Little known tidbits: the Tiber Creek once flowed through an open channel under the stage (actors even washed their clothes in its waters!); a blocked up doorway in the rear stage wall served as a portal where costumes and props were unloaded from railroad cars; the left side of the auditorium was enlarged during John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural to accommodate anticipated visits by his large family; and Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, referred to the National as their “neighborhood theatre.”
In 1974, the National Theatre became a non-profit entity and underwent a major interior renovation 10 years later. Its free Saturday Morning at the National, Monday Night at the National, Summer Cinema and Community Vaudeville programs are a local treasure. The latter takes performers to disadvantaged audiences, including senior centers and residents and children’s organizations.
To celebrate its 175th anniversary, the National Theatre has launched its first public fundraising campaign, in which it hopes to raise $175,000. A host of free programs and performances for adults and children are already underway. Not to be missed: the Monday night program featuring dance performances from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm through April 19; the Saturday morning performances for children including magicians, storytellers and puppeteers from 9:30 am to 11:00 am through April 10; and “Noon at the National,” a salon-series offering up author readings and discussions on select Thursdays through April 15. All are free, but seating is limited and tickets are required.
In addition to the celebrations, the theatre kicked off the year with “Grease,” starring “American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks. “Fiddler on the Roof” debuts in the spring and will run from April 13 through May 9.
For more information, including how to contribute to the 175th Anniversary Campaign, visit www.nationaltheatre.org.