A new "old musical" may sound like a contradiction in terms, but that's exactly what Meet John Doe, now playing at Ford's Theater, is. At first, one might wonder if we need a show that takes us back to the days of classics like Kiss Me Kate and Sweet Charity, but with such intelligent lyrics and such a satisfying blend of hope and cynicism, John Doe is more than a nostalgia trip, and doesn't have to break new ground in order to be considered fine entertainment.

Meet John Doe focuses on a newspaper’s desperate publicity stunt; when columnist Ann Mitchell (Heidi Blickenstaff) is faced with the possibility of a pink slip, she cooks up a fictional “John Doe,” who writes into the paper threatening to commit suicide out of anger against the world’s injustices. The letter boosts circulation and allows Mitchell to keep her job – the only problem is John Doe doesn’t exist. So the paper hires a down-on-his-luck former baseball player (James Moye) to fill the role. A movement quickly forms around Doe, and the paper’s slick publisher (Patrick Ryan Sullivan) attempts to mobilize it for his own purposes – and throw a wrench into the budding romance between Doe and Mitchell in the process.

The show is based on a Frank Capra film, so we know we’ll likely be dealing with trials of conscience and the struggle between the individual and the many. Capra’s heartwarming style seems a natural transition to the world of the musical, but it is the work’s darker themes that keep it from descending into schmaltz. This is aided by a wonderful score from Eddie Sugarman and Andrew Gerle – the lyrics are smart and funny, the rhymes are unexpected, and there is a refreshing lack of cliché. One example is the endearing duet, “Who the Hell?”, a love song obliquely talking around the couple’s attraction to each other.

Director Eric Schaeffer has created a world which invokes the play's silver screen roots, from the set’s churning gears to the costume’s stark, greyscale tones. He also has assembled a fine cast; Moye is an appealing Everyman, Sullivan is appropriately slimy, and Blickenstaff has the brass and sex appeal of any old-time newspaper dame, though her voice occasionally is too bright and abrasive. The principals are backed up by standout supporting turns such as Joel Blum’s light-footed hobo, and a game ensemble of familiar, animated faces from DC’s musical theater scene.

The play’s ending won’t leave you with the same kind of uplifting feeling you’d get from an Oklahoma! or a Sound of Music, but it is not entirely without hope, either. In short, John Doe has something for both the cynic and the idealist in all of us.

Meet John Doe runs through April 29 at Ford’s Theater. Tickets are available via phone.