Sister Act

Ford’s Theatre explores the legacy of President Abraham Lincoln and celebrates the American experience through theatre and education. A working theatre, historical monument, culturally-significant museum and learning center, Ford’s Theatre is the premier destination in Washington, D.C. to explore and celebrate Lincoln’s ideals and leadership principles. 

Ford’s Theatre History 

In 1861, theatre manager John T. Ford leased out the abandoned First Baptist Church on Tenth Street to create Ford’s Theatre. Over the next few years, the venue became a popular stage for theatrical and musical productions. On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln visited Ford’s for a performance of Our American Cousin. At this performance, Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer and white supremacist. Lincoln died the next morning in the Petersen House, a boarding house located across the street. Ford’s Theatre remained dark for more than 100 years, officially reopening in 1968 as a national historic site and working theatre. It is operated through a public-private partnership between the National Park Service and Ford’s Theatre Society. 

Ford’s Theatre Today 

Through its inspiring theatrical productions, live historic interpretation and engaging education programs, Ford’s Theatre offers visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in America’s past while revealing meaningful connections to today. 

As a working theatre, Ford’s produces renowned plays, vibrant musicals and newly commissioned works that captivate and entertain while examining political and social issues related to Lincoln’s legacy. With works from the Tony-nominated Come From Away and the nationally acclaimed Big River to the world premieres of Meet John Doe, The Heavens Are Hung In Black, Liberty Smith, Necessary Sacrifices, The Widow Lincoln, The Guard, Grace and Something Moving, Ford’s Theatre is making its mark on the American theatre landscape. With the opening of the Aftermath Exhibits at the Center for Education and Leadership, Ford’s Theatre has become a major center for learning, where people of all ages can examine Lincoln’s multi-faceted legacy through exhibits, workshops and educational programs. 

For more information about Ford’s Theatre and Ford’s Theatre Society, please visit www.fords.org. 

We are glad that you are joining us at Ford’s Theatre today. This is a welcoming and interactive community. Whether you are here to visit our historic site or to see a show, we invite you to be your authentic self.

At Ford’s Theatre:

• We are allowed to be human, in all the ways that make us unique.
• We are allowed to be human together. We encourage you to find moments of respectful connection and engagement with other members of the community.
• We are on common ground. We are all here to enjoy a shared experience and though our reactions and responses may vary, we will remain respectful.
• We are creating a live theatrical experience together; audible reactions and responses are welcome. The actors need you to engage with what you see but not to distract them from their performances.
• We also welcome the use of personal communication devices if they help you to better experience the show, but we encourage you to respect the actors’ work and the other audience members around you. Please note that the taking of photographs, video or sound recordings of the performance is not permitted.

Let’s create something beautiful together.

By José Carrasquillo, Director of Artistic Programming

Sister Act is based on the 1992 comedy film starring Whoopi Goldberg. The film was wildly successful grossing more than $230 million worldwide and becoming the most rented video title in the United States in 1993. The film is responsible for spawning a franchise consisting of the 1993 sequel, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, a musical adaptation produced in cities all over the world, and Sister Act 3 currently in production.

The journey of Sister Act begins with Paul Rudnick’s desire to bring to screen the story of Dolores Hart — a Hollywood starlet who became a nun. Born Dolores Hicks in Chicago in 1938, Hart made her film debut in Loving You (1957), starring Elvis Presley. For the next five years she appeared in several popular films including Wild is the Wind (1957) and Where the Boys Are (1960). But in 1963, at the age of 24, she purposedly closed the door on a lucrative film career in favor of life in a convent under the Rule of Saint Benedict. In 1991, Rudnick traveled to the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut to meet with Hart. (Today at 86, she’s still a resident of the Abbey.) He learned that Hart had been solely responsible for expanding the Abbey’s connection to the region through her love of the performing arts. The Gary-The Olivia Theater at the Abbey, an open-air theater that was built in 1982 owes its existence to Reverend
Mother Dolores Hart. Hart has said:

“The link between drama and monastic life is an ancient one. Far from putting an end to my acting career, I discovered that monastic life transcended my acting vocation. Obviously, a cloistered monastery is not the conventional place that one goes to realize one’s potential as an actress. And yet, in my case, my vocation as an actress could only have reached its fullest expression, its fullest expansion because I was fortunate enough to have been called to a monastic way of life.”

Rudnick’s visit made him eager to explore how Hart’s actions had transformed an entire community. As the script began to take shape, Bette Midler, who had been offered the starring role, exited the project believing that audiences wouldn’t buy her as a Benedictine nun in a habit. Enter Whoopi Goldberg.

As the film entered its pre-production phase, several script doctors including Carrie Fisher and Nancy Mayers were tasked with re-fashioning the film for Goldberg. Hart had been the initial inspiration, but the team of writers favored a fish-out-of-water story — a lounge singer from Reno is forced to flee to California and hide in a convent under a witness protection program after witnessing a fatal shooting committed by her mob-boss boyfriend. This is how Dolores Hart became Deloris Van Cartier (and Sister Mary Clarence inside the convent).

The stage musical version of Sister Act was written by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Glenn Slater and additional materials by Douglas Carter Beane. Although the musical adaptation kept many plot points from the film, the Steinkellner team changed the setting and the decade of the film, going from the West coast in the 90s to Philadelphia in the 70s. The change fleshed out Deloris’s story as a musician by giving her drive and ambition to become a defining act of the Disco era. Going with Philadelphia made perfect sense as some of the characteristics of Disco — the soul sound and the drum patterns of drummer Earl Young (Disco Inferno) came from Philadelphia. Several up-tempo soul records from the Philadelphia International Label—Disco’s original label, included Lou Rawls’ You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine and Patti Labelle’s The Spirit’s in It. These and other early Disco songs from the label had been playing years before the 1977 release of the film Saturday Night Fever.

Sister Act — the stage musical had its world premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2006, becoming the highest grossing show in that theatre’s history to that point. A second regional production followed at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. In 2009, Sister Act opened in London’s West End. In that production, Patina Miller who had understudied the role of Deloris in the previous regional productions, played Deloris. A newly revised adaptation by Douglas Carter Beane opened on Broadway in April of 2011. Jerry Zaks, who had previously collaborated with Alan Menken in Little Shop of Horrors, became the director. Patina Miller made her Broadway debut and earned a Tony nomination for best actress in a musical for playing Deloris

Did You Know?

• In 2012, Mother Dolores Hart was the subject of the short documentary, God is the Bigger Elvis. The film was nominated for the 2012 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. Her autobiography, The Ear of the Heart: An Actress’ Journey from Hollywood to Holy Vows (Ignatius Press), co-authored with Richard DeNeut, was published in 2013.
• Paul Rudnick is an American writer best known for his plays I Hate Hamlet and Jeffrey. Millions of readers believe that Rudnick is the writer behind America’s most beloved and irresponsible critic—Libby Gelman-Waxner. Libby’s essays have appeared in Premiere, Entertainment Weekly and The New Yorker. His best-selling novel Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style was published in 2023 by Atria Books.
• In 2011, Deloris Blakely, a nun, sued Disney and Sony Pictures for “misappropriation of likeness and unjust enrichment.” Blakely claimed that her 1987 memoir, The Harlem Street Nun, was turned into Sister Act without permission. Blakely dropped the initial suit to serve the studios with a new lawsuit asking for $1 billion in damages. In February 2013, the New York State Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit.
• After the London and Broadway productions, Sister Act has become a popular title for regional theatres across the country. Many credit the accessible storyline, likeable characters and the upbeat music for its popularity. Three of the songs from the musical — Take Me to Heaven, Fabulous, Baby, and The Life I Never Led, climbed the music charts and became popular songs.
• Whoopi Goldberg achieved EGOT status in 2002. Sister Act turned Goldberg into the biggest movie star of the 90’s. She earned $10-12 million for the film sequel making her the highest paid actress of that decade. She is one of the producers of Sister Act’s West End and Broadway productions. Goldberg is seen weekly by millions of television viewers on The View. She will return as Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act 3.
• Bette Midler biggest professional regret? Turning down Sister Act. She has said: “I didn’t think filmgoers and fans would buy me as a nun. Whoopi wore the habit all the way to the bank!”

Alan Menken
Composer
Theater: God Bless You Mr Rosewater, Little Shop Of Horrors, Real Life Funnies, Atina: Evil Queen Of The Galaxy, Kicks, The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz, Beauty And The Beast, A Christmas Carol, Weird Romance, King David, Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame, The Little Mermaid, Sister Act, Leap Of Faith, Aladdin and Newsies. Film: Little Shop Of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, Newsies, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Hercules, Life With Mikey, Lincoln, Home On The Range, Noel, Enchanted, Shaggy Dog, Tangled, Mirror Mirror. Songs: Rocky V, Home Alone 2, Captain America. Awards: 8 Oscars (19 nominations), 11 Grammys (including Song of the Year), 7 Golden Globes, Tony® (plus 4 nominations), Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, New York Drama Critics, Olivier and London’s Evening Standard Award, Drama League. Honors: Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, Doctorates from New York University and University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Glenn Slater
Lyrics
Co-created Disney’s Tangled (Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe nom.), Sister Act (Tony nom.), The Little Mermaid (Tony nom., Grammy nom.), and School of Rock. Executive Producer/Lyricist: Galavant, Songs: Home On The Range (Disney), Leap of Faith (Tony nom.). West End: Book/ lyrics: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies (Olivier nom.). Other work includes: an Emmy-nominated song The Neighbors (2013), Newyorkers [Manhattan Theatre Club (Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle noms.)]. Honors: Kleban Award for Lyrics, ASCAP/Richard Rogers New Horizons Award, Jonathan Larson Award. Training: BMI Musical Theatre Workshop. Membership: ASCAP, Dramatists’ Guild.

Cheri Steinkellner
Book
Winner of four Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, People’s Choice, BAFTA, Writers Guild Award, Parents Choice, TV-Land Legend Awards, for writing and producing Cheers, and The Jeffersons, Facts of Life, Family Ties, Who’s The Boss, Teacher’s Pet. A 2011 Tony-nominee for Sister Act; Cheri has also written Princesses; and book and lyrics for Mosaic, and Jailbirds. Other stage includes: Our Place, Instaplay, Hello! My Baby (Indy Award, Ovation nom.). Teaching: Stanford, UCSB.

Bill Steinkellner
Book
Award-winning television and screen writer: Cheers, Disney’s Teacher’s Pet (Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAS, Writers Guild, People’s Choice Awards). Book writer (with wife, Cheri): Sister Act (London Palladium, Hamburg, Broadway), Princesses (Goodspeed, 5th Avenue). Writer/director: the original Pee-wee Herman Show (Groundlings, Roxy Theatre, HBO). Creator/director: Instaplay, L.A.’s first all-improvised musical-comedy. Author: the L.A. Times bestseller Postcards From the Moon.

Douglas Carter Beane
Additional Book Materials
Plays: The Nance (3 Tony Awards; Live from Lincoln Center); The Little Dog Laughed (Tony and Olivier nom., Best Play), Fairycakes, Shows for Days, The Country Club, Mr. & Mrs. Fitch, Music From a Sparkling Planet, As Bees in Honey Drown. His first play Advice From A Caterpillar (Outer Critics Circle nom.) was made into a film and received the Aspen Comedy Festival Best Feature award. Film: To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. Musicals: Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Adaptor, 2 Tony noms.), Xanadu (Book, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, 2 Tony noms.), Sister Act (2 Tony noms.), Lysistrata Jones (Book, Tony and Drama Desk noms.) Other: The Bandwagon (Book), Rockettes, Radio City Music Hall, Die Fledermaus (Libretto, Met Opera).

Jeff Calhoun
Director/Choreographer
Ford’s (Associate Artist): Big River, Shenandoah, The Civil War, Violet, Freedom’s Song. Regional: Goodspeed: The Boy who Loved Batman, A Complicated Woman; Asolo Rep/La Jolla: Bonnie & Clyde. Broadway: Newsies, Bonnie & Clyde, Grey Gardens, Deaf West’s Big, Brooklyn, Bells Are Ringing, Annie Get Your Gun, Jekyll and Hyde, Grease, Tommy Tune Tonite!, The Will Rogers Follies. Off -Broadway: Between the Lines (Tony Kiser Theater). Other: West End: Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5: The Musical; Old Globe: Jane Austen’s Emma: A Musical Romantic Comedy; Deaf West’s Pippin, Oliver! UK Tours: High School Musical 2 (On Stage), Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5: The Musical.

William Yanesh
Music Director
Ford’s: Little Shop of Horrors, Guys and Dolls; Into the Woods (Helen Hayes award, Music Direction). Regional: Signature: Jesus Christ Superstar; The Last Five Years. Arena: Snow Child; Round House: Ordinary Days. D.C.-Area: Labor Heritage Foundation: Working in DC. 1st Stage: Floyd Collins. Music and Lyrics: Flying V: Vanishing Girl. Adventure Theatre: Make Way for Ducklings; Blueberries for Sal; Caps for Sale. Training: Carnegie Mellon University. williamyanesh.squarespace.com @barbershopraga

Paige Hathaway
Scenic Designer
Ford’s: Little Shop of Horrors. Regional: Round House: Sojourners, The Mountaintop; Signature: Hair, Penelope, No Place to Go, RENT; Everyman: Primary Trust, And Then There Were None; Arden: Assassins. Other: Village Theatre: Dial M for Murder; Santa Fe Play House: On Clover Road; Barrington Stage: A New Brain; Amphibian Stage: Juan Garcia, Miss Molly; Writer’s Theatre: A Distinct Society. MFA: University of Maryland, College Park. BFA: University of Oklahoma. www.paigehathawaydesign.com Instagram:@paigehathawaydesign

Ivania Stack
Costume Designer
Ford’s: (Associate Artist) Something Moving, The Trip to Bountiful, Silent Sky, Jefferson’s Garden. Regional: Arena, Round House, McCarter Theatre, Gulf Shore Playhouse, Asolo Repertory, The Wilma, Seattle Repertory, Philadelphia Theatre Company, TFANA, Signature; D.C.-Area: Olney, Woolly Mammoth (Company Member), Baltimore Center Stage, Everyman Theatre, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Theatre J, Imagination Stage, Studio, Synetic, Kennedy Center, Gala Hispanic Theatre, dog & pony dc. Education: MFA, Univerity of Maryland College Park.

Max Doolittle
Lighting Designer
Ford’s: Little Shop of Horrors, My Lord, What a Night. Regional: Signature, Round House, Geffen. D.C.-Area: Woolly Mammoth, Folger, Olney, Mosaic, Theatre Alliance, Baltimore Center Stage, Theatre J, Rep Stage, Kennedy Center/Second City, Imagination Stage, Forum, Adventure, ArtsCentric, Constellation, Shakespeare Theatre Academy for Classical Acting, Pointless Theatre Co, NextStop Theatre. NYC includes Ars Nova, Juilliard School, Theatre Row, New Ohio Theatre, New World Stages, Signature Theater Center. Other: Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Kitchen Theatre Company, Santa Fe Playhouse, Great Lakes Center for the Arts, Pennsylvania Shakespeare, Fulton Theatre. TV: Anderson Cooper 360, Piers Morgan Live. BFA, Ithaca College. MFA, University of Maryland.

David Budries
Sound Designer
Ford’s (Associate Artist): Little Shop of Horrors (2010, 2023), Grace, Guys and Dolls, Into the Woods, The Wiz, Ragtime, 110 in the Shade, Freedom’s Song, The Widow Lincoln, Spelling Bee, Violet, Hello, Dolly!, Our Town, 1776, Parade, Liberty Smith, The Civil War, Meet John Doe, Shenandoah. New York: 11 productions on and off-Broadway. Regional: Hartford Stage, Center Stage, Dallas Theatre Center, La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, Yale Repertory Theatre. Teaching: Professor Emeritus of Design, David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.

Kelley Jordan
Hair and Make-up Designer
A seasoned wig, hair, and make-up designer with over 40 years of experience, most recently seen in Frozen (TUTS); Rock & Roll Man (New York); The Little Mermaid, The Wiz (5th Avenue Theatre); Mary Poppins, Rock of Ages (TUTS); Little Shop of Horrors, Sister Act, The Color Purple, Joseph (The Muny); An Officer and a Gentleman (National Tour). She is the first African American Female Wig Designer & Supervisor to work at The Muny and credits her talents and love of hair to her mother, Clara “Mickey” Wings. IATSE Local 805. k.jordantheatrical.com @k.jordantheatrical

Kim Scharnberg
Orchestrator
Ford’s (Associate Artist): Into the Woods, Ragtime, Freedom’s Song, Hello, Dolly!, 1776, The Civil War; orchestration, music direction and music supervision for several Annual Galas. Broadway: The Great Gatsby, Jekyll & Hyde (original and revival), Scarlet Pimpernel, The Civil War, Little Women (Drama Desk nom.), Wonderland. International: No Longer Human, The Legend of 1900, Phantom (Yeston), Doctor Dolittle, Rudolf, Carmen, The Count of Monte Cristo. Composer/Arranger for the Pageant of the Masters, Laguna Beach, CA (2009 to present). www.KimScharnberg.com

Rachel Hirshorn-Johnston 
Dialects and Voice Director
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), University of Missouri – Kansas City; BFA (Acting), University of Maryland – Baltimore County.

Craig A. Horness 
Production Stage Manager/Associate Director 
Ford’s: Little Shop of Horrors (2024); Grace; Into the Woods; The Wiz; Ragtime; 110 In The Shade; Freedom’s Song; Hello, Dolly!; 1776; Liberty Smith; Little Shop of Horrors (2010); A Christmas Carol (2004-2019, 2021-2024); The Civil War; One Destiny; Meet John Doe; Leading Ladies; State of the Union; Big River; The Member of the Wedding. Other: Broadway Sacramento/Music Circus, Center Stage, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Opera, New York City Opera, North Shore Music Theatre, Opera/Omaha, Portland Opera, Theatre Under the Stars. 

Taryn Friend 
Assistant Stage Manager
Ford’s: A Christmas Carol, Little Shop of Horrors; SHOUT SISTER SHOUT!; Grace; Guys and Dolls; Into the Woods; The Wiz; Ragtime; 110 In The Shade; Freedom’s Song; Spelling Bee; Hello, Dolly!; 1776; Liberty Smith; One Destiny. Arena: Oklahoma! Signature: Soft Power; Ragtime, The Bridges of Madison County; The Color Purple; Assassins; Passion; A Little Night Music; Jelly’s Last Jam; Sunday in the Park; Miss Saigon; Spin; Hairspray; The Visit; Kiss of the Spider Woman. Kennedy Center: 50th Anniversary Concert; Unleashed!; Bud, Not Buddy. 

Genevieve Dornemann
Assistant Stage Manager
Ford’s debut. Regional: Signature: A Funny Thing Happened…Forum, HAIR, Sweeney Todd; Shakespeare: Evita, Macbeth in Stride. D.C.-Area: Folger: Where We Belong; Kennedy Center TYA: The Mortification of Fovea Munson; Rep Stage: Songs for a New World; Woolly Mammoth: Teenage Dick; Imagination: Óyeme, the beautiful, Inside Out; Synetic: The Tempest. Other: The Barnstormers Theatre: Pride and Prejudice, Into the Breeches!; Lookingglass Theatre Company: Lookingglass Alice. Training: Imagination Stage Apprentice Class 2017-2018: Production.

Kristin Fox-Siegmund 
Deputy Director and Director of Programming 
Since joining Ford’s in 2006, Fox-Siegmund has overseen the creation of the Center for Education and Leadership and the renovation of the historic theatre and museum, as well as the world premiere productions of The Guard, The Widow Lincoln, Necessary Sacrifices, Liberty Smith, Meet John Doe and The Heavens Are Hung In Black. Prior to Ford’s, she spent 11 years at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas. Her tenure as Production Manager included premieres of Horton Foote’s The Carpetbagger’s Children, Ken Ludwig’s Be My Baby and Leading Ladies and Edward Albee’s The Play About the Baby and The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, as well as Michael Wilson’s production of A Christmas Carol. She oversaw the design and relocation of the theatre’s new production facilities in 2002 and the renovation of its Neuhaus Stage after the destruction of Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. Other work includes Santa Fe Opera and Houston Grand Opera. 

Paul R. Tetreault 
Director 
Since joining Ford’s in 2004, Tetreault has enhanced the quality of the institution’s artistic programming and expanded its mission to include a stronger focus on education. He led a $50+ million capital campaign, the most extensive renovation to the theatre and museum since the building reopened to the public in 1968, and the creation of the Center for Education and Leadership, which seeks to further explore Lincoln’s legacy. Tetreault served as managing director of the Alley Theatre for 10 years, producing more than 100 productions and working with artists such as Edward Albee, Tony Kushner, Trevor Nunn, Nicky Silver, Frank Wildhorn and August Wilson, among others. He has held senior management positions with Crossroads Theatre Company, New Jersey; Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California; and Circle Repertory Company, New York City. He served as director of finance at Madison Square Garden and as a vice president with C.W. Shaver and Company, Inc., a New York management and fundraising consulting firm. He has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and has taught and guest lectured at Brooklyn College, Columbia University, New York University, the University of Houston and Rice University. He is a graduate of Emerson College and received his MFA from the City University of New York-Brooklyn College. He serves on the Board of the Downtown DC BID.

Scenery built by F&D Scene Changes Ltd.

Props built by Elizabeth Baldwin, Dan Covey, Felysia Furnary, Dre Moore, Justin Nepomuceno, Jonathan Dahm Robertson

The actor and stage managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

United Scenic Artists represents the designers and scenic painters for the American Theatre. 

The technicians at Ford’s Theatre are represented by Locals 22, 772 and 798, IATSE, AFL-CIO, the professional union of theatrical technicians. 

The director and choeographer are members of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an independent national labor union. 

An ASL sign-interpreted performance of Little Shop of Horrors is scheduled for April 11 at 7:30 p.m.

The musicians of the orchestra are represented by the D.C. Federation of Musicians, Local 161-710.