Journey of a Bombshell at Anacostia Arts Center

The most successful female bandleader of the Big Band era, Ina Ray Hutton rose to fame conducting the all-girl Melodears before moving on to become the first woman to conduct male bands as well. In Journey of a Bombshell, writer/actor Melissa Ritz tells Hutton's story, from her humble beginnings on the South Side of Chicago to her eponymous TV show in the 1950s. But her 30-year entertainment career was threatened by a secret she couldn't afford to reveal at the time. This one-woman show was hailed by the Las Vegas Review-Journal as "an evocative journey through time that's not to be missed."