SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - KENNEDY CENTER - 1
LIBRARY OF SOPHIA OF WISDOM III SOPHIA OF ALL SOPHIA OF WISDOMS
AKA
CAROLINE E. KENNEDY - CAROLINA KENNEDIA __________________
SEP 21, 2007
RE: KENNEDY CENTER
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the name by which
it is known, (or, as named on the building itself, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts but, locally
called the The Kennedy Center), is a performing arts centre which is located beside the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate
Hotel in Washington, D.C.. It opened in 1971.
It represents a unique public/private partnership, since it is both
the nation's living memorial to President John F. Kennedy and the "National Center for the Performing Arts", which includes
educational and outreach initiatives, almost entirely paid for through ticket sales and gifts from individuals, corporations,
and private foundations.
Designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone, it was built by Philadelphia contractor John
McShain and is administered by a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution. It receives Federal funding each year to pay for the
maintenance and operation of the building.
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Fundraising
1.2 Construction
2 Architecture
3 Venues
3.1 Concert Hall
3.2 Opera House
3.3 Eisenhower Theater
3.4 Other performance
venues
4 Events
4.1 Kennedy Center Honors
4.2 Regular performances
4.3 Other events
5 Renovations
6
Management
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
[edit] History
The
idea for the center dates back to 1933 when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt discussed ideas for the Emergency Relief and Civil
Works Administration to create employment for unemployed actors during the Great Depression.[1] In 1935, Congress held hearings
on plans to establish a new Department of Science, Art and Literature and to build a monumental theater and arts building
on Capitol Hill near the Supreme Court building. A small auditorium was added at the Library of Congress, but it had restrictions
on its use. A congressional resolution in 1938 called for construction of a "public building which shall be known as the National
Cultural Center" near Judiciary Square, but nothing materialized.[2]
In 1950, the idea for a national theater resurfaced
when New York representative Arthur G. Klein introduced a bill to authorize funds to plan and build a cultural center as a
memorial to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The bill included provisions that the center would prohibit any discrimination
of cast or audience." From 1955 to 1958, the idea was debated in Congress, amidst much controversy. In the summer of 1958,
a bill was finally passed in Congress and on September 4, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the National
Cultural Center Act which provided momentum for the project.[3]
This was the first time in history that the United
States federal government backed and helped finance a structure dedicated to the performing arts. The legislation required
a portion of the costs, estimated at $10 - 25 million, to be raised within five years of passage of the bill.[4] Edward Durrell
Stone was selected as architect for the project in June 1959.[5] He presented preliminary designs to the President's Music
Committee in October 1959, along with estimated costs of $50 million which were double the original estimates of $25-30 million.[6]
By November 1959, estimated costs had escalated to $61 million.[6] Despite the high costs, Stone's design was well-received
in editorials in The Washington Post, Washington Star, and quickly approved by the United States Commission of Fine Arts,
National Capital Planning Commission, and the National Park Service.[7]
[edit] Fundraising
The Kennedy
Center as seen from the air. A portion of the Watergate complex can be seen at the left.Fundraising was led by the National
Cultural Center Board of Trustees, which was set-up by Eisenhower on January 29, 1959.[4] Fundraising efforts were not successful,
with only $13,425 raised in the first three years.[8] President John F. Kennedy was interested in bringing culture to the
nation's capital, and provided leadership and support for the project.[9] In 1961, President Kennedy asked Roger L. Stevens
to help develop the National Cultural Center, and serve as chairman of the Board of Trustees. Stevens recruited First Lady
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as Honorary Chairman of the Center, and former First Lady Mamie Eisenhower as co-chairman.[10]
National Cultural Center was renamed as the Kennedy Center in 1964, following the assassination of President Kennedy.[11]
The total cost of construction was $70 million.[11] Congress allocated $43 million for construction costs, including
$23 million as an outright grant and the other $20 million in bonds.[9] Funding was also provided through donations, including
$5 million from the Ford Foundation, and approximately $500,000 from the Kennedy family.[12][13] Other major donors included
J. Willard Marriott, Marjorie Merriweather Post, John D. Rockefeller 3rd, and Robert W. Woodruff, as well as many corporate
donors.[13] Gifts were also provided to the Kennedy Center from governments of numerous other countries, including 3,700 tons
of Carrara marble from Italy (worth $1.5 million) which was used in the building's construction.[14]
[edit] Construction
President Lyndon B. Johnson was present at the groundbreaking for the Kennedy Center on December 2, 1964.[15] Though,
debate continued for another year over the Foggy Bottom site, with some advocating for another location on Pennsylvania Avenue.[12]
Excavation of the site got underway on December 11, 1965, and the site was cleared by January 1967.[16]
The first
performance was on September 5, 1971, with 2,200 members of the general public in attendance to see a premiere of Leonard
Bernstein's Mass in the Opera House[11], while the Center's official opening took place on September 8, 1971, with a formal
gala and premiere performance of the Bernstein Mass.[17] The Concert Hall was inaugurated on September 9, 1971, in a performance
by the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Antal Dorati.[17] On Friday, September 10, 1971, Alberto Ginastera's opera,
Beatrix Cenci debuted at the Kennedy Center's Opera House.
[edit] Architecture
The Hall of StatesThe Kennedy
Center was designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone.[18] Overall, the building is 100 feet high, 630 feet long, and 300
feet wide. The Kennedy Center features a 600 foot-long, 63-foot-high grand foyer, with 18 massive crystal chandeliers and
red carpeting. The Hall of States and the Hall of Nations are both 250-foot long, 63-foot high corridors. The building has
drawn criticism about its location, not near the Washington Metro, as well as for its scale and form.[18] Though, it also
has drawn praise for its acoustics, and its terrace overlooking the Potomac River.[18]
Cyril M. Harris designed the
Kennedy Center's auditoriums and their acoustics.[19] A key consideration is that many aircraft fly along the Potomac River
and overhead the Kennedy Center, as they take off and land at the nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Helicopter
traffic over the Kennedy Center is also fairly high. To keep out this noise, the Kennedy Center was designed as a box within
a box, giving each auditorium an extra outer shell.[20]
[edit] Venues
Layout of the three main theaters
at the Kennedy CenterThe three main theaters at the Kennedy Center are the Opera House, Concert Hall, and the Eisenhower Theater.
[edit] Concert Hall
The Concert Hall, on the south side, seats 2,442. When it opened in 1971, the Concert
Hall has a seating arrangement, similar to that used in many European halls such as Musikverein in Vienna.[17] The Concert
Hall was renovated in 1997, and currently is state-of-the-art, with a high-tech acoustical canopy, and accessible locations
on every level, and new seating sections (onstage boxes, chorister seats, and parterre seats). The Hadelands crystal chandeliers,
a gift from Norway, were repositioned to provide a clearer view.[14] Behind the stage the 4,144-pipe organ is located. This
was a gift from the Filene Foundation of Boston. The Concert Hall is the largest performance space in the Kennedy Center and
is the home of the National Symphony Orchestra.
[edit] Opera House
The Opera House, in the middle, has 2,300
seats. Its interior features include much red velvet, a distinctive red and gold silk curtain, which was a gift from Japan.[14]
The Opera House also features a Lobmeyr crystal chandelier, which was gift from Austria.[14] It is the major opera, ballet,
and large-scale musical venue of the Center, and was closed for the 2003/2004 season for extensive renovations which provided
a revised seating arrangement at the orchestra level plus re-designed entrances to this level. It is the home of the Washington
National Opera and the annual Kennedy Center Honors.
[edit] Eisenhower Theater
The Eisenhower Theater,on the
north side, seats 1,100 and is named for President Dwight Eisenhower. It primarily hosts plays and musicals, smaller-scale
operas, ballet and contemporary dance. The theater contains an orchestra pit for 40 musicians that is convertible to a forestage
or additional seating space. The walls are of East Indian laurel wood. The red and black stage curtain of hand-woven wool
was a gift from Canada.[14] The Theater is being renovated beginning in May 2007 and will re-open sometime in 2008.
The
Grand Foyer, at 60 feet high and 630 feet long, is one of the largest rooms in the world. If laid on its side, the Washington
Monument would fit in this room with 75 feet to spare.
[edit] Other performance venues
Other performance venues in
the Center include:
The Family Theater, with 324 seats, was opened on 9 December 2005. It replaces what was once the
American Film Institute Film Theater located off the Hall of States. The new Family Theater provides a home for world-class
family theater performances for the nation's youth and continues the Kennedy Center's $125 million commitment to performing
arts education for adults and children alike. Designed by the architectural firm Richter Cornbrooks Gribble, Inc. of Baltimore,
the new theater incorporates the most modern theatrical innovations available, including: premium audio technologies; a computerized
rigging system; and a digital video projection system.
The Terrace Theater, with 513 seats, was constructed on the Roof
Terrace level in the late 1970s as a Bicentennial gift from the people of Japan to the United States. It is used for intimate
performances of chamber music, ballet and contemporary dance, and theater.
The Theater Lab, with 399 seats plus cabaret-style
tables for the current 18-year long run of the whodunit, Shear Madness.
The Millennium Stage. Part of the concept of "Performing
Arts for Everyone" launched by then-Director James Johnson in the winter of 1997, the Millennium Stage provides free performances
every evening at 6:00pm on two specially created stages at either end of the Grand Foyer. A broad range of art forms are featured
on the Millennium Stage. These include performing artists and groups from all 50 states and an Artist-in-Residence program
featuring artists performing several evenings in a month. Every show on the Millennium Stage is available as a simulcast of
the live show at 6:00pm as well, and is archived for later viewing via the Kennedy Center's website.
The KC Jazz Club.
On March 12, 2003 the space formerly known as the Education Resource Center was officially designated the Terrace Gallery.
It is now home to the Kennedy Center Jazz Club.
"Performing Arts for Everyone" was designed to introduce the Kennedy Center
and its programs to a far wider audience than ever before by providing a performance open to the public and free of charge
365 days a year. In addition, "Performing Arts for Everyone" initiatives include low- and no-cost tickets available to performances
on every stage of the Kennedy Center, and several outreach programs designed to increase access to the Center's tickets and
performances.
[edit] Events
[edit] Kennedy Center Honors
Wikinews has related news:
Kennedy Center
names 2007 honors recipientsSince 1978, the Kennedy Center Honors have been awarded annually by the Center's Board of Trustees.
Each year, five artists or groups are honored for their lifetime contributions to American culture and the performing arts,
including dance, music, theater, opera, film, and television.[21] The Center has awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American
Humor since 1998.
[edit] Regular performances
The Kennedy Center houses a number of groups and institutions,
including:
National Symphony Orchestra, directed by Leonard Slatkin and principle guest conductor Iván Fischer
Washington
National Opera
Washington Ballet
Washington Performing Arts Society, WPAS: an organization which sponsors performances
of all kinds
American College Theater Festival
[edit] Other events
During the American Bicentennial, numerous
special events were held at the Kennedy Center throughout 1976, including six commissioned plays.[22] Free performances by
groups from each state were also held at the Kennedy Center.[23] In December 1976, Mikhail Baryshnikov's version of The Nutcracker
ballet played for two weeks.[24]
The Kennedy Center also hosts special inauguration events and galas.
In 1977,
the Opera House hosted George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra with Rex Harrison and Elizabeth Ashley.[25] The American
Ballet Theater has also frequently performed at the Kennedy Center.[26]
Productions of The Lion King musical, and
Trevor Nunn's production of My Fair Lady choreographed by Matthew Bourne are slated for the 2007-2008 season.[27]
[edit]
Renovations
On June 16, 1971, Congress authorized appropriations for one year to the Board of Trustees for operating and
maintenance expenses.[28] In following years, the appropriations were provided to the National Park Service for operations,
maintenance, security, safety and other functions not directly related to the performing arts functions.[28] The National
Park Service and the Kennedy Center signed a cooperative agreement requiring each party to pay a portion of the operating
and maintenance costs based on what proportion of time the building was to be used for performing arts functions.[29] The
agreement did not specify who was responsible for long-term capital improvement projects at the Kennedy Center, along with
only periodic funding by Congress for one-time projects, the condition of the facility had deteriorated by 1990.[29]
In
fiscal years 1991 and 1992, Congress recommended that $27.7 million be allocated for capital improvment projects at the Kennedy
Center, including $12 million for structural repairs to the garage, and
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