The John F.Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Reviews

Fine Performing Arts Center. Great acoustics. Sometimes nasty, authoritarian Usher's.

Always love coming here. They make going to the symphony accessible to everyone with a variety of price points for tickets.

Saw the NSO playing their shift series, was a great performance, beautiful music, the concert hall was nice too. Not sure what to review really. Comfortable seats and temperature was very comfortable and dialed in, but the rows are a little close together (Americans have got bigger I think) and the decor is dated...but that all seems pretty, because really you're here for the orchestra.

Incredible building, gorgeous views, accommodating theaters with very helpful and courteous ushers and eclectic free performances out in the main hall. The attached garage isnt to expensive for events either if you cant find parking in the area. Highly reccomend coming here for any event.

Even if you aren't going for a show, check out the top floor balcony for a romantic view at night!

Excellent you can't comprehend the size of the theatres until you are there. Carol our tour guide was fantastic and it was free.

Free daily concerts. A wealth of knowledge. A glorious building. Top quality entertainmet

nice venue, but difficult to get to, and very expensive parking

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Millennium Stage

The evening I went was to see a friend of mine conduct a performance in the Millennium, the program was excellent

Beautiful historic venue with excellent programs. The acoustics are great in the concert hall.

You must go here if you travel to Washington DC! There is a new addition that has really enhanced the center.

Incredibly talented (& free) orchestra, plus amazing views! I would visit regularly if I lived there.

Brought in the New Year (2018) here and had a great time.

Watching the Color Purple was awesome! Hope I can meet the characters.

Outstanding experience. The staff was friendly and extremely helpful.

A very beautifully designed building with awesome acoustics

Still a great place to see the events that are put on each year.

Recently completing its hundredth year in operation no trip to DC is complete without a visit to the awesome iconic Kennedy Center. This place is impressive not only in an artistic but also a cultural and architectual context. With over 3000 events each year anyone should be able to find something to their liking. Free performances are provided 365 days a year as well. Convenient transportation is provided by a continously running shuttle bus from the Foggy Bottom Metro Station. Don't miss the views of the Potomac river, DC, and Virginia from either level of the large terrace once you exit the back of the Kennedy Center.

What an incredible place. Never been disappointed with a single performance.
They even have free events. They have parking available on site as well. And the fact that it overlooks the river makes it a beautiful site coming into DC. Highly recommended place to go. Perfect for date night

Always love coming here. Spectacular performances everytime.

Wonderful place to see a play, a ballet, a musician.... whatever your taste. Love going there.

Great. We saw one free performance and Aladdin. Wonderful.

The idea of building a large performing arts center dates back to 1933, when Eleanor Roosevelt of the First Lady made this recommendation at a meeting of the Federal Emergency Relief Agency. She hopes to establish such a performing arts center to provide jobs for some unemployed actors during the Great Depression [1]. In 1935, Congress organized a hearing to discuss the establishment of a new institution responsible for science, art and literature, and to establish an art center near the US Supreme Court on Capitol Hill. Eventually a small auditorium was added to the Library of Congress, but there are strict rules on the use of this auditorium. In 1938, Congress passed a proposal to establish a public building near the Judiciary Square as a National Cultural Center. However, this proposal was not implemented at the end [2].

In 1950, US House of Representatives Arthur George Klein once again proposed a proposal to allocate funds to establish such an art center to commemorate President Franklin Roosevelt. This proposal includes the art center must not discriminate against actors and audiences. In 1955, Stanford International Research Institute (English: SRI International) was commissioned to select the art center address and design [3]. From 1955 to 1958, such a proposal sparked a very big debate in Congress. In the summer of 1958, Congress finally passed the proposal. On September 4, 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the proposal to make it a law [4].

This is the first time in the history of the United States to use the federal government to fund the establishment of an art center. In June 1959, Edward Durell Stone was chosen to design the art center [5]. In October 1959, he presented a rough design to the President's Music Committee. The budget was roughly set at $50 million, twice the initial budget of $25-$30 million [6]. By November 1959, the budget had been raised to $61 million. Despite this, Edward Durell Stone's design has been well received and quickly adopted by the United States Commission of Fine Arts (National Capital Planning Commission). ) and the National Park Service approved [7].

In 1964, the National Arts Center was renamed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to commemorate President Kennedy who died of assassination [8].

Fund raising
edit
The fundraising activities were led by the National Cultural Center Board of Directors, which was established on January 29, 1959 by President Eisenhower [5]. Fundraising activities did not go smoothly, and only raised $13,425 in the first three years [9]. President Kennedy was very interested in bringing literary art to the capital and began to lead and support the plan [10]. In 1961, President Kennedy invited Roger Stevens (English: Roger L. Stevens) to build the National Cultural Center and appointed him as Chairman of the National Cultural Center. Roger Stevens also invited Jacqueline Kennedy, the then First Lady, as the honorary chairman of the Cultural Center and invited Mammy Eisenhower as co-chairman.

The building cost a total of $70 million [8], and Congress allocated a total of $43 million for the building, including $23 million in direct grants and $20 million in bonds [10]. Some institutions and individuals also donated a large amount of donations. The Ford Foundation donated $5 million and the Kennedy family donated $500,000 [11][12]. Other major donors include J. Willard Marriott, Marjorie Merriweather Post, and John Davidson Rockefeller III. English: John D. Rockefeller III), Robert W. Woodruff et al. [12]. Many countries have also contributed a lot to the establishment of the Kennedy Center, including 3,700 tons of Carrara marble (worth $1.5 million) donated by the Italian government, which were later used for the construction of the Kennedy Center [13].

Kennedy Center Reach opening festival Sunday September 17

Saw The King and I. No line to get in if you bought your tickets. The ushers were helpful in navigating the large facility. Parking was easy, although pricey. Beautiful venue for great shows

The center is a beautiful memorial to President Kennedy. The art programs along with the amazing shows are a must see for anyone visiting the D.C. area. If you're not into spending a lot of money to sit in the orchestra section go for the last few rows where the seats are cheap and you'll still great a great show.

wonderful place, very impressive show, the staff is the most polite and passionate I have ever met. The only small problem is not easy get there by public transport.

Amazing place, amazing performances, nice atmosphere. Shuttle services from the metro to help people to get to the concert and back. Beautiful view of the Georgetown.

ASBC Christmas Production with Choir, Drama, Dancers, Orchestra, special guests and Gospel Artist and our Awesome Pastor HJ Wesley. Performance begins at 8 pm. For This Child Was Born!!

To see like the other monuments of Washington, beautiful because there are all the flags of the world

One of the most hallowed An Elegant performance spaces in the world that Casey has not lost his power because of beautiful quotes and photogenic nature of the building. Could use a few more maintenance upgrades, as long as they're raking in the bucks from Hamilton, such as repainted bathrooms maintain The Terraces better with squeegees and Landscape Maintenance and upgraded sound systems like THX that reach all seats equally

Beautiful, spacious venue with excellent programming and a very convenient location. Wonderful views both inside and out, good ushering, and relatively better-priced concessions.

The perfect venue for any performance! So glad to see The Kennedy Center is adding diversity to their lineup!

Saw the play Love Factually at the Kennedy Center a few days ago. The Center is elegant as always and has multiple performance stages including an Opera House. The play is a parody based on the movie Love Actually filled with comic sketches, song and dance with some audience participation.

The United states number one performing arts center

This is THE place to go for theater, opera, concerts. Check the current program for more details.

Special line for will call, courteous ushers beautiful stage, shows there are reliably entertaining.

Amazing multi use venue. Love the top outdoor space with the informational plaques. Nightly free performances on small stages!

Theater with large spaces, external and internal. Suggestive the two tunnels, nations and states, dotted with flags. They offer more than a photographic inspiration. To be included in a quick tour of the city.

Saw a good show there. It is a little run down, but the quality is what counts. I will keep going to support the arts.

Great place to enjoy a wide variety of cultural and musical events and watch national and international artists.

Edit: 12/25/19; been a few more times now, great Cafe and gardens on the new addition. Brilliant Xmas concert for the children. the acoustics were great.
Helpful staff and great verandah overlooking the Potomac. And you can park at the Watergate. Am going to bike there next week and see if you can go on the verandah without going to a show.

It was a good show on the Saturday of Memorial day weekend. Very patriotic with a show of loving country and God. The venue is good with the sloping seating and balconies.

The Kennedy Center Opera house is a great venue for musical theater. Hamilton is a mind blowing revelation!

The show was great. I hesitated about parking there, but glad I did. If you go with teens or kids and want to eat before the show the restaurant and cafe don't really have a good variety for them.

Beautiful building. We saw Shear Madness. It was phenomenal. Wonderful cast. So much fun.

I always enjoy visiting......the Alvin Ailey Company was outstanding!

Lady usher was so very helpful. I'm handicapped and she helped guide us through the crowd. Other staff folks were pleasant as well.

Romantic enough if you go to your favorite performance.

Just saw a performance of Wicked on Dec 28th. Everything that everyone else said about the facilities, restaurants, views of the river etc., and the staff were true. It is a beautiful venue!! Our seats( TR1, Row G, #127/9) however, were less than perfect. While we knew where the seats were, we did not know that the seats would be straight backed chairs or that the sound would not be good. I thought that the sound would be good anywhere in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Individual dialogue was just auditable and lyrics of songs very bad - and yes I have excellent hearing. Beware of where you sit