Frommer's Review
This 37-year-old theater complex strives to be not just the hub of Washington's cultural and entertainment scene, but a performing arts theater for the nation. The center lies between the Potomac River and a crisscross of major roadways, which makes it sound like it's easily accessible when, in fact, its location has tended to isolate it from the rest of town. Congress has rejected the Center's bid for funding that would have allowed the complex to expand and connect to the rest of the city, including the National Mall. The Kennedy Center will certainly plead its case again, but for now, the center remains just a bit west of the city's main action.
The Kennedy Center stages top-rated performances by the best ballet, opera, jazz, modern dance, musical, and theater companies in the world. Ticket prices vary from $18 for a children's play to as much as $600 for a night at the opera, although most fall in the $30 to $75 range.
The Kennedy Center is committed to being a theater for the people, and toward that end, it continues to stage its free concert series, known as "Millennium Stage," which features daily performances by area musicians and sometimes national artists each evening at 6pm in the center's Grand Foyer. (You can check out broadcasts of the nightly performances on the Internet at www.kennedy-center.org/millennium.) The Friday "Weekend" section of the Washington Post lists the free performances scheduled for the coming week.
The Kennedy Center is actually made up of six different national theaters: the Opera House, the Concert Hall, the Terrace Theater, the Eisenhower Theater, the Theater Lab, and the Family Theater.
The Kennedy Center's 2007-08 season includes a February-long festival that salutes Japan, Japan! Culture + Hyperculture; and a tribute throughout March to playwright August Wilson, presenting staged readings in the intimate Terrace Theatre, of all 10 of his works, including Gem of the Ocean and Fences. For more information, check out the Kennedy Center's online information at www.kennedy-center.org. Highlights of the Kennedy Center's 2007-08 season include the following:
Washington National Opera (www.dc-opera.org) performances of Puccini's La Boheme and Verdi's Rigoletto, with artistic director Placido Domingo (tickets often sell out before the season begins);
National Symphony Orchestra concerts, under the direction of Leonard Slatkin, presented in the Concert Hall from September to June;
Performances by the New York City Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre, the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, and the Kirov Ballet;
Broadway musicals My Fair Lady and The Lion King;
Kennedy Center Jazz series performances by assorted masters, from Dianne Reeves to Dave Brubeck and Ramsey Lewis;
Family Theater productions, like the National Symphony Orchestra's Teddy Bear Concerts; and
Continuing performances of the comedy whodunit Shear Madness, now in its 21st year at the Kennedy Center.
Longer Than the Washington Monument Is Tall -- Most Kennedy Center performances take place in theaters that lie off the Grand Foyer. But even if the one you're attending is on the Roof Terrace Level, one floor up, make sure you visit the Foyer anyway. The Grand Foyer is one of the largest rooms in the world. Measuring 630 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 60 feet high, the foyer is longer than the Washington Monument is tall (at 555 5/8 ft.). Millennium Stage hosts free performances here nightly at 6pm, the famous Robert Berks sculpture of President John F. Kennedy is here, and just beyond the foyer's glass doors is the expansive terrace, which runs the length of the building and overlooks the Potomac River.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
