Making downtown more fun...

As a comment to a blog entry, Cableflame writes:

Let me add a bit more to this... there isn't enough cheap/free stuff to do downtown.

Yes, we have the Smithsonians. They are a WONDERFUL resource. However, if you live here and you work daytimes, then they're open crappy hours... I'd love to take in a museum after work, but as I get off @ 6, that's not quite happening. Yes, sometimes they're open late on Thursdays, but it's still not late enough.

You showed a picture of the Lansburgh Shakespeare Theater. It's obviously a nice cultural resource, but what about the cost? I haven't checked the prices lately, but I don't believe I could afford to attend something there. And that's a shame, as I do enjoy Shakespeare.

Yes, there's the occasional free cultural event (like the free simulcasting of Madame Butterfly by the Washington Opera on the Mall a few weeks ago), but it just comes off to me like the arts are tossing a bone to the poor because it's what you're supposed to do, (perhaps?) because they feel pressured to do so. And most free events in this city are held during the nicer months, I believe mainly because many of them are held outside/on the Mall.

I'd like to see more free to cheap (and by cheap, I mean $5 or less) performance arts downtown. Perhaps the Lansburgh could have "free night" or "$5-10 night" for one or 2 nights out of every production. Same for the opera, the ballet, and the symphony. (Although, I must admit, if you pay attention, you can get some good cheap seats to see the NSO @ the Kennedy Center.) Or perhaps a "Theater of the People" with all kinds of productions going on? And how about free to cheap workshops for adults in the arts? Acting, singing, writing, painting, sculpting? Or this winter holiday season... carol singing, anyone?

Yes, I realize that people are going to point out the Kennedy Center, but let's be honest. It's not exactly in the heart of things, and it's not exactly the easiest to access. They've got the shuttle busses from the Metro, but there's often long lines for them getting back after a show, and the Millennium Stage performances are at 5 pm... when most people are working or getting off of work.

However, the trick to these free events is marketing. Often times, free events go unnoticed because they're not marketed aggressively enough. I've been to some wonderful free to cheap events that I only found out about because I happened to glance at an ad in the Express in the morning. (Beethoven's 5th Symphony and a neat after hours Halloween tour of the Air & Space Museum that included a talk by the inventor of Klingon are the 2 main ones I'm thinking of.)
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Great points as always! Thank you.

In "More Mutterings About the Post," commenting on an op-ed piece about Downtown, earlier in the year I summarized some of the things I've written relating to this:

1. Open the Smithsonian museums at night till 10 pm. [or at least til 9:00]

2. Have the Landmark Cinema and Regal Cinemas at Gallery Place provide night-time "matinee" pricing for some of the films after the museums would close (later)--this would help keep people downtown.

3. Get the Smithsonian IMAX theaters to do midnite showings on Fridays and Saturdays, including the Rolling Stones film, etc.
Rolling Stones At the Max. (IMAX photo.)

4. Make MLK a 24 hour library and put a coffee shop in the lobby. (And outside, what a great patio opportunity.)

Etc.--that's just for starters. And it is unfortunate that with the threat of terrorism, promoting more mixed use activities downtown in federal buildings isn't going to happen.
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Also see:
-- The tension between high culture and low and middlebrow culture
-- Call for Museums to stay open til 10 pm at night... in London
-- More thoughts about broadening how we think about "The Central Library"
-- Smithsonian Gift Shop Sales

I have suggested that the additional costs could be covered in part through the DC tourism tax revenue stream. The reopened Reynolds Center, comprising the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum, is open til 7 pm, which is a start...

2. Plus, the NGA theater space is great, and could be used in the evenings as well. (The Hirshorn is doing more movies at night.

3. I suggested that the Embassy of Canada try to work with the National Film Board of Canada to open a Mediatheque onsite. (The Film Board does this in Toronto and Montreal.)

4. As far as the Historical Society goes (Carnegie Building), I am hoping that events can be done in association with the Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association's "3rd Thursday" monthly gallery walk on 7th Street.

Index Keywords: arts-culture; urban-design-placemaking