Zack Ford on Broadway Wednesdays: Show Tunes, Karaoke, and Community in DC

Broadway + NYC

Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Off Broadway

Cabaret

Dance

Opera

Classical Music

Eastern

Central

Western

West End

WEST END

UK Regional

International

Canada

Australia / New Zealand

Europe

Asia

Latin America

Africa / Middle East

Entertainment

TV/Movies

Music

Once a week, a piano bar becomes a venue for musical theatre

POPULAR

Get all the top news & discounts for Washington, DC & beyond.

Discover BROADWAY WEDNESDAYS WITH ZACK FORD, a weekly show tune piano karaoke event at Sid Gold's Request Room in Washington, DC.

Tell me about Broadway Wednesdays.

Sid Gold's Request Room, Washington's only piano karaoke bar, belongs to a chain which has branches in New York, Detroit, and Nashville. Every Wednesday evening from 6-9, I host a show tune piano karaoke, and a community of of talented adult theatre kids has been evolving. I started the event last July, about a year after Sid's opened in Union Market, a short walk from the Noma/Gallaudet Metro station. There's room for 50 or so, bar service, and some limited snacks. We've got some regulars, but new singers turn up every week. It's a democracy of singers who like the genre and who approach singing the songs of Broadway/Disney and movie musicals with a high level of emotional maturity.

What if a singer makes a mistake? Is this a performance or can anyone participate?

I'm here to help! I really want to keep it fun, so I can tell when somebody needs to hear the melody. I can adjust my playing to cover most situations—it's “yes, and . . .” piano-playing. And after all, the audience=the performers; it's a supportive bunch.

Tell me about Zack “Cabaret Zack” Ford. How did you get involved in the Broadway songbook?

I saw Ragtime when I was ten. And then while I was finishing my undergrad degree in music, I did my student teaching assisting a theatre department production of Oklahoma! I worked on shows while in grad school too. So when I came to DC around 2010 to work in social justice, I continued to find small theatre companies and DC “off Broadway” productions to play and provide musical direction for, including Love, NY in 2013's Capital Fringe.

How does Broadway karaoke work?

Singers look through my list of 2200+ songs, they choose, and away we go. There are too many to list, but choices include songs from My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Parade, Children of Eden, Shrek, Follies, The Prom, The Little Mermaid, Evita, South Pacific, Hairspray, Into the Woods, The Color Purple, Wicked, Miss Saigon, The Producers, Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon, and, of course, Ragtime. Sometimes folks bring their book and use the opportunity to practice for auditions.

Is Broadway Wednesdays at Sid Gold's only for experienced performers?

Nope; it's for people who want to sing show tunes, who value the chance to do it, who separate pop music from songs that have been written purposely to carry a story and reveal the intentions of characters. I want Broadway Wednesdays to be a space that people want to return to. We've had groups of folks who do professional and semi-professional theatre in the region and just come out to have a good time. And we've had folks who did theatre in college but now have DC day jobs; they relish taking a night off from their work and kids to relive their glory days a bit. Most nights, newcomers inevitably start duetting with each other, and sing-alongs are par for the course.

What has surprised you there, perched on your piano bench?

Well, right before we broke for last year's Christmas holidays—and the place was packed—a few people selected “La Vie Boheme” from Moulin Rouge. It turned into a 50-voice sing-along which was a lot of fun. Another night, Ana Gasteyer , Nic Rouleau , and others dropped by; Nic went completely up on the first few lines of “Believe,” which he, um, performed on Broadway as Elder Proctor in The Book of Mormon for more than two years, so that happened. (The crowd went wild!)

What's in the future for Broadway Wednesdays?

Well, we want everyone who loves Broadway songs to join us. I recently helped rehearse a high school production of Mamma Mia!; it might be cool to have a weekend afternoon session for teens with soft drinks. And another idea is to have more sing-alongs, maybe themed nights such as an all-duet evening. As Irving Berlin once wrote, everything the traffic will allow. Broadway Wednesdays is a musical theatre oasis in the DMV.

(photo courtesy of Zack Ford)

Sid Gold's Request Room is located at 1262 5th St NE, Washington, DC 20002; the entrance is in the Morse St. Alley, between 4th St & 5th St. NE. Look for the GOLD DOOR and NEON PIANO BAR sign in the alley!

Videos

POPULAR

Sign up for announcements, and exclusive discounts on tickets to your favorite shows!

© 2026 - Copyright Wisdom Digital Media , all rights reserved. Privacy Policy

_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/washington-dc/article/Interview-Zack-Ford-of-BROADWAY-WEDNESDAYS-WITH-ZACK-FORD-at-Sid-Golds-Request-Room-20260512)._