What you need to know about who’s singing the national anthem at the Commanders vs Eagles game
Here’s who’s singing the anthem ahead of the NFC Championship Game.
The Eagles take on the Commanders in the earlier game of the two on Championship Sunday. While both sides are not the undisputed top dogs of the NFL, this game certainly brings with it a unique sense of intrigue and the action will certainly captivate fans up and down the country once it gets going.
Both sides have got star players with fascinating stories in their own right, but the high-stakes game will see just one of them progress to the Super Bowl to face either the Bills or the Chiefs.
Ahead of Commanders vs Eagles, Mary Kate “MK” Morrissey, who plays Elphaba in Wicked, will step forward in front of the thousands of expectant fans to sing the US national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. MK Morrisey is a household name for musical theatre fans, and will step away from Broadway to step on Lincoln Financial Field ahead of the fascinating tie.
Wicked through and through. 🧹 Welcome back to Oz, Mary Kate Morrissey! #WICKED pic.twitter.com/sy7KqXscMA
— Wicked the Musical (@WICKED_Musical) April 19, 2024
Who is singing the national anthem for Commanders vs Eagles?
Morrissey, a die-hard Eagles fan, grew up in an Irish Catholic family in Downingtown, where she attended Bishop Shanahan High School and participated in the Philadelphia All Catholic Chorus.
“My two grandparents are off the boat from Ireland and landed in Philly,” Morrissey told The Inquirer. “My pop used to sing to the Irish radio and work the night shift at the Acme. They had seven kids in South Philly. My mom’s parents too were in South Philly and then everybody sort of moved to Delco.”
“The game was always on,” she added. “I think I was born knowing the Eagles’ fight song. I can’t even remember learning it. That’s how long ago I learned it.”
Will Mary Kate Morrissey ‘Elphaba’ sing the Wicked national anthem?
Probably not. If you’re not sure why this question is being asked, it’s due to a TikTok video published by Morrissey in which she merges the final note of the anthem into Elphaba’s battle cry from the end of “Defying Gravity.”
While she admitted “it would be funny”, Morrissey thinks she’s "just gonna do the standard one because I feel really proud that they asked me and [that] I’m Philadelphia’s own Mary Kate Morrissey. I’m there to make Philly proud more than I am to make Wicked people proud."
Mary Kate Morrissey 👏 Alexandra Socha 👏 Natalie Ortega 👏 BRAD OSCAR 👏 DONNA MCKECHNIE
— Kobi Kassal (@kkassal) January 31, 2024
New @WICKED_Musical on Broadway cast is fire. @sentmenpod
pic.twitter.com/mNKkytqyIO
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The game between the Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles will be played on Sunday, January 26, with kickoff at 3:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. PT. The AFC Championship Game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs will be played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sunday January 26, 2025. Kick-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.
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