Ford’s Theatre is scheduled to present Come From Away from September 10 through October 18, 2026, as the opening production of its 2026–2027 season. The engagement will overlap with observances marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, according to DC Theater Arts.
The 2026 production
Kevin S. McAllister is directing the staging. Katy Tabb is choreographing, Mason Moss is music director and Emily Lotz is scenic designer, according to Ford’s Theatre.
Come From Away depicts Operation Yellow Ribbon, the 2001 effort that diverted 224 international civilian flights carrying more than 33,000 passengers across Canada. Thirty-eight planes landed in Gander, Newfoundland, where 6,579 stranded travelers needed food and shelter as residents accommodated them, according to Hoodline’s account cited in the original article.
Earlier Ford’s Theatre engagements
Ford’s Theatre’s Penn Quarter setting
Ford’s Theatre sits in Penn Quarter, a mixed-use area within downtown Washington. The D.C. Office of Planning describes Gallery Place/Penn Quarter as a retail destination, cultural center and activity hub alongside the city’s arts, retail and historic districts.
The musical previously ran at Ford’s Theatre from September 2 through October 16, 2016. That engagement was the production’s final U.S. stop before its New York opening, and the show later received 14 Helen Hayes Award nominations, according to Ford’s Theatre.
Ford’s Theatre marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 with a free, 100-minute outdoor concert version of Come From Away at the Lincoln Memorial on September 10, 2021. The one-night event drew thousands of attendees, according to Ford’s Theatre.
September 29 panel
The theatre has scheduled a September 29 public panel titled “25 Years After 9/11: Lessons in Leadership, Resilience and Finding Our Better Angels.” The discussion will address leadership decisions made during the 2001 crisis, along with resilience and remembrance, according to Ford’s Theatre.
During the 2016 run, Ford’s Theatre also held a September 13 performance for more than 400 military veterans, service organization representatives and members of Congress. Washingtonian and The Home Depot co-sponsored that event, according to Washingtonian.
