In 1983, DC musician Stephen Moore had a dream that he wrote a book called Capital Acts. A longtime fan of local entertainment, Moore took the dream seriously, and that week, without journalism training, he began asking prominent DC entertainers for interviews. Actress Helen Hayes and local DJ Carroll James agreed, and those interviews launched a side career for Moore as an entertainment journalist.
Published in 2024, Capital Acts: Washington DC Performing Arts represents decades of research Moore conducted while simultaneously juggling responsibilities as a father, performing musician, print journalist, and full-time Georgetown University research technologist. Every genre of talent makes an appearance in this self-published, 522-page tome: local music, theater, radio, television, and the big screen.
Capital Acts was co-authored by radio personality and sports broadcaster Johnny Holliday, along with Steve Lorenz and Charles D. Young. Here are a few highlights featured in the book:
A Theater for the Ages
Built in 1835, The National Theatre in DC is America’s second oldest operating theater. “Almost every major touring star and attraction has played at National Theatre,” says Moore, citing Laurence Olivier, Mae West, Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway, Robert Redford, and John Travolta, as a few examples. Notable shows include West Side Story, Annie, 1776, Rent, Hairspray, and Hello, Dolly! Fun fact: While a student at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington (now Washington-Liberty High School), future actor Warren
Beatty was a stagehand, doorman, and rat catcher at the National.
Marine Music Maker John Philip Sousa
When conductor/composer John Philip Sousa was a boy, he wanted to join a traveling circus, but his father had other plans. By age 11, Sousa was enlisted as an apprentice in the rousing United States Marine Band that practiced near his house at 636 G St. in Southeast DC. Faithfully serving the “President’s Own,” Sousa’s legacy lives on in his patriotic marches, including “Stars and Stripes Forever” and “Semper Fidelis.” The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico features exhibits about his service as 17th director of the Marine Band. Fun fact: The theme song for the BBC comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus was Sousa’s “Liberty Bell March.”
The Beginnings of The Beatles
In December 1964, Carroll James of local radio station WWDC became the first DJ in the nation to play The Beatles’ single “I Want to Hold Your Hand” on air, spurring U.S. “Beatlemania.” Two months later, a few days after Ed Sullivan’s famous television introduction, The Beatles arrived on a snowy day at DC’s Union Station for their first U.S. concert, performed February 11 at the Washington Coliseum. Before the concert, The Beatles sat with James for a live broadcast interview in a remote studio outside the packed venue. In 1983, Moore interviewed James about that experience, resulting in a feature story that earned Moore his first Washingtonian byline. Together, James and Moore printed a special record in 1984, with James’ nine-minute interview on one side and snippets of the concert and related materials on the other, which they sold through ads in Rolling Stone magazine. Fun fact: No longer a music venue, the former Washington Coliseum now houses DC’s flagship REI store.
Clowns and Puppets
Long before joining NBC’s Today show, Willard Scott, who was born in Alexandria, gained notoriety hosting a DC radio program, The Joy Boys, with friend Ed Walker. From 1959 to 1962, Scott played Bozo the Clown on a syndicated television series. That role led him to create the first rendition of
Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown for a DC McDonald’s franchise.
Another local children’s star was Harold Shaw, who, in later years, lived in Herndon. Aided by puppets, Shaw played a friendly forest ranger on the Ranger Hal Show, which aired on WTOP-TV (Channel 9) from 1957 to 1970. The top spot in local puppet fame, however, belongs to Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets and Sesame Street. Henson grew up in Hyattsville. While in high school in 1954, he created puppets for a Saturday morning show on WTOP-TV. As a college freshman, he had his own show, Sam and Friends, on WRC-TV, which featured an early version of Kermit the Frog. He married classmate and coworker Jane Nebel, and in 1959 they established Muppets, Inc. Fun fact: The Smithsonian National Museum of American History houses a collection of Henson’s puppets, including the original Kermit.
Feature image courtesy Stephen Moore
This story originally ran in our March Issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
