Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies

We're so glad they extended Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies at Lincoln Theatre so we could go! We had heard lots of good reviews from friends who had seen it and with the $10 tickets you can get for the 30 and under crowd at Arena Stage we couldn't pass it up!  We went on Friday, May 28 and the theatre was packed as predicted.

I had never been to Lincoln Theatre or U Street for that matter.  It's a pretty cool area and hope to go back and hit up Ben's Chili Bowl.  We've been talking about it for ages and unfortunately we had already eaten before the play.  There is so much history in that area and that theatre.  Duke Ellington performed there so it was so fitting to have a show showcasing his work performed there by Broadway legend Maurice Hines.

Lincoln Theatre & Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street

The show was a little different than I had expected. I thought it was going to be a play using Duke Ellington's music like how Across the Universe used the Beatles music or Moulin Rouge used pop music, but it was more a concert with tidbits about his life.  He wrote so many great songs.  Everyone is familiar with at least one.  If you ever get to see the show, I highly recommend it.  The singers and dancers were great and it was a fairly family friendly show, something to take your grandma to. John and Leo Manzari did a great job tapping with Maurice and it was a lot of fun.