Lectures, Tours Highlight More Than the Assassination

The bandages may have come off Ford's Theatre, but its makeover is far from complete.

Still to be unveiled this spring is a renovated museum, which will tell the whole story of Abraham Lincoln's presidency, instead of focusing solely on his assassination. Visitors will enter the new gallery on the lower level of the theater through a facsimile of a railway car, in an evocation of Lincoln's train ride to his 1861 inauguration. In 2010, the Center for Education and Leadership will open just across the street from the theater, completing a three-building "campus" that includes the nearby Peterson House, where Lincoln died. The new center will include a 5,000-square-foot museum focusing on the manhunt for assassin John Wilkes Booth, and on Lincoln's legacy.

Upcoming public programming includes:

· Bicentennial Commemoration. On Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the theater will celebrate Lincoln's 200th birthday with a public wreath-laying, free performances and interpretive programs by National Park Service rangers.

· Open House. On Feb. 16 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Ford's will celebrate Presidents' Day with free, ranger-led interpretive programs, a play reading and performances.

· "Living Lincoln." On Feb. 16 at 7 p.m., Ford's debuts a free series of Monday night lectures, panel discussions, play readings and performances on various aspects of Lincoln's life and personality. The Feb. 16 and March 2 events have sold out, but tickets are still available for such offerings as "Lincoln as Commander in Chief," featuring author James McPherson (May 11). Advance tickets are available from Ticketmaster for a $1.50 service fee (202-397-7328 or http://www.ticketmaster.com) or through http://www.fords.org. Any remaining tickets will be available the day of each performance at the theater box office, beginning at 10 a.m.

· Theater tours. On Feb. 17, free public tours of Ford's Theatre resume, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (except when closed for rehearsals or matinees). Same-day, timed tickets are available, beginning daily at 8:30 a.m., at the box office. Advance tickets are available from Ticketmaster for a $1.50 service fee. Call 202-397-7328 or visit http://www.ticketmaster.com.

-- Michael O'Sullivan