A stage for the nation

Southern Living, Jul 1996 by Thomas, Les

It's Friday night and The John E Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., is busier than a politician on election day. There's a musical on one stage, a children's play on another, and an orchestra in the Concert Hall. I'm watching Shear Madness in the cozy 399-seat Theater Lab, and even the audience is trying its best to get in on the act.

Two high school students from Maryland are waving wildly. They want to tell actor Ben Lipitz, who plays a detective, about clues to this murder mystery that the audience helps solve. Before the show is over, the audience-mostly tourists and high schoolers on a field trip-votes to decide who's guilty, choosing a different ending for every performance.

Shear Madness, in its ninth season, is the longest running play in Washington, and the third longest running nonmusical in the country. Tonight's audience, many watching professional theater for the first time, are among the more than 1 million people who attend the center's six theaters and tour the building each year.

In 1996 The Kennedy Center is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and you're invited to join the party. Even if you can't come for a production, you can get behind-thescenes glimpses during one of the free guided tours offered daily

"President Eisenhower signed a bill creating the National Cultural Center in 1958," Roy Preston, a volunteer guide, explains to visitors. "John Kennedy attracted support for the arts, but things really didn't get rolling until the center was named for him after his death.

Over $34 million was raised to build it." The center now presents more performing arts than any other single institution in the U.S.

On most nights, like tonight, the center is a melting pot of audiences, dressed in everything from blue jeans to tuxedos. As Shear Madness draws to a close and the cast comes out for a bow, the high school students are the first to give a rousing ovation. I'd say that's pretty good evidence that The Kennedy Center can chalk up a new bunch of fans. Les Thomas Kennedy Center tickets usually go on sale about two months before each event. For information call (202) 467-4600 or 1-800-4441324. Tours: Free, guided halfhour tours are offered 10 a.m.-1 p.m. daily; (202) 416-8340.

A KENNEDY CALENDAR

* Now through September 29: Walt Disney's production of Beauty and the Beast.

* September 8: The culmination of the 25th anniversary celebration features seven stages of free family entertainment, including rock, country, and classical music; jugglers; magicians; and the National

Symphony Orchestra.

* September 12-17: The National Symphony Orchestra opens its season with a world premiere by American composer Claude Baker.

* September 24-October 20: The drama Mrs. Klein, starring Uta Hagen, opens the theater series in the Eisenhower Theater

* October 8-13: The San Francisco Ballet opens the dance season in the Opera House.

* October 14-November 10: The center's Performances for Young People series opens with an adaptation of Judy Blume's Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.