News Release

Lincoln Home National Historic Site to Host “A Message at Midnight” Play

the cast of Message at Midnight: Randy Duncan, Dennis Rendleman and Pam Brown

NPS Photo

News Release Date: November 27, 2023

Contact: Danny Guttas, 217-391-3212

SPRINGFIELD, IL: Lincoln Home National Historic Site will host the play “A Message at Midnight” December 8 at 6p.m., December 9 at 3p.m., and December 10 at 3p.m. in the Visitor Center, 426 S 7th Street. Featuring Randy Duncan as Abraham Lincoln, Pam Brown as Mary Lincoln and Dennis Rendleman as Ulysses S. Grant. Play lasts approximately 45 minutes, admission free.

Audiences will be taken back in time to December 24, 1864. The play follows President Lincoln as he waits for General Grant to arrive at the White House on Christmas Eve. Amid all the festivities, the Civil War still drags on. Lincoln and Grant hope to hear news from General Sherman of his campaign towards Savannah. News of victory will help ensure the passage of the 13th amendment and provide a much-needed morale boost for the North. News of defeat may be the final blow to the hopes of national reunion and freedom of the enslaved. The play begins as Lincoln paces and midnight approaches.