The Last Official Theatrical Booth Appearance

[LincolnMan]

The book Lust for Fame: The Stage Career of John Wilkes Booth by Gordon Samples says this:

"On March 18, 1865, Ford's rich drop curtain decorated with a landscape and bust of Shakespeare, rose for the last time on John Wilkes Booth. Washington on that Saturday night was alive with tourists, and as usual were directed by a yelling boy stationed at the corner of 10th and E Streets: "This way to Ford's! Tonight John Wilkes Booth! he cried, as he distributed the yard-long playbills and announcements."
The author goes on to cite one story that claims Lincoln attended that perfomance- in the same box he would later be mortally shot in by Booth. There are other sources, the author mentions, that dispute that it was the same box. No wonder we love this stuff! So full of drama- so full of twists, contradictions, and amazing coincidences. There is Booth performing what was his last stage performance- and Lincoln (if he was there) viewing (and admiring?) the man who will kill him in less than a month from that date- in the very same theater! Hollywood could not produce a more interesting story.