As arts organizations across the District grapple with how to proceed following the coronavirus shutdown, the Kennedy Center announced Tuesday that it will cancel most of its previously announced performances and events through the end of the year.
The institution said in a press release that programming like the Kennedy Center Honors and the presentation of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor will be postponed until 2021, and the National Symphony Orchestra Opening Night Gala originally scheduled for Sept. 26, will be canceled.
The center previously announced it would postpone or cancel all performances through August 9, including the highly anticipated return of Hamilton, which was set to run from June 16 to Sept. 20.
The Kennedy Center said Tuesday that it will announce plans in July for new programming that will comply with Mayor Muriel Bowser’s reopening restrictions, including socially distant events outside and relocating previously announced performances to new venues.
The center also said that later this summer it will announce updates on expanded digital programming and new seasons for theater, dance and ballet, among other offerings, that it hopes to present beginning in January 2021.
“Our lives as we have known them have been upended by COVID-19, but the world continues to spin forward and we need artists now more than ever to help light the way,” Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter said in the release.
She continued, “I am deeply proud of our staff and artists who have been forging new digital stages for audiences in the nation’s capital and across the country, and I am equally excited by the work being done to safely allow us to experience the arts once again in person as well. For our patrons with tickets to fall performances, we do ask for your patience and flexibility as we readjust season schedules.”
As a result of the postponements and cancellations, the organization said it expects to lose $45.7 million ticket sales and other income for the 2020-2021 season. The center says it’s implementing a number of cost-saving measures to protect artist and staff positions, and is beginning conversations with its union partners.
Like many local arts organizations, the Kennedy Center has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, and previously instituted mass layoffs and furloughs in March and April, despite receiving $25 million in federal aid.
Many other arts organization have taken similar steps over the past couples months. D.C. opera and theater company IN Series announced its first entirely virtual season in late April, and Bethesda’s Round House Theatre said it will cancel all live performances through 2020.
The Kennedy Center said Tuesday that ticket holders will be able to request a refund, exchange their ticket for a gift certificate or use the value toward a future program, or donate the value to help sustain the National Symphony Orchestra.
