Kennedy Center Tour

I've been to The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts several times, but never seemed to be there at the right time to take a tour. I really wanted to see the inside of the Concert Hall and Opera House. Up to now, I'd only seen the Theater Lab - a small experimental-type theater, and the Millenium Stage - basically two stages at either end of the Grand Foyer. The tour covers the history, the theaters and the artwork that has been presented as gifts from around the world. Here are a few pics:

This is the Grand Foyer. There are 16 crystal chandeliers each weighing a ton. They were a gift from Sweden.

These chandeliers are in the Concert Hall and were a gift from Norway.

This is the Opera House Chandelier and was a gift from Austria. It's 50 feet across and has about 200 bulbs. To replace the bulbs and polish the crystal they need to use a cherry picker.

This is the President's Suite at the Concert Hall. See the Presidential Seal on the wall? Through that door are seats for the President and/or his guests. I don't know if President Obama has been here for any performances yet, but I heard that his mother-in-law has been here several times already. There's also a Presidential Suite for the Opera House.

We got to see a lot of artwork and sculptures as well. This wall structure was a gift from Switzerland. The artist exploded dynamite on both sides of a sheet of steel, then chromed and polished it. Standing in front of it was like looking in one of those carnival fun-house mirrors.

None of my other pics came out good enough to share. If you'd like to see more of the gifts from the tour you can see them here.