Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
DAR Constitution Hall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
DAR Constitution Hall is a concert hall in Washington, D.C. It was built in 1929 by the Daughters of the American Revolution, which still owns the theater and holds its annual members convention inside. In another part of the building are the DAR's genealogy research library, as well as living rooms representing different States, decorated in period antique furnishings.
The hall was designed by architect John Russell Pope and is located at 1776 D St. NW, just east of the Department of the Interior, between the American Red Cross and the Organization of American States, across from the Ellipse in front of the White House. The hall seats 3,974 people, with 2,494 on risers and 1,480 on the floor. Additional seating is located in 52 boxes separating the floor from the risers.
It is used for concerts (including military bands), touring Broadway shows, family shows, high school graduations, and the Washington edition of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. It was the location where Eddie Murphy Delirious was filmed in 1983. It was also the location where "Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat" was filmed in 2002. For several decades prior to the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1971, Constitution Hall was home base of the National Symphony Orchestra and the city's principal venue for touring classical musicians. Sold-out film lectures of the National Geographic Society were also held for many decades, three times a week until about 1990 when they were moved instead to the National Geographic theater, one mile to the north. In an often-told historical incident, the Hall's management once told distinguished African-American singer Marian Anderson her requested performance date for the Hall was already booked by another event, causing first lady Eleanor Roosevelt instead to offer her a spot to sing at the Lincoln Memorial.
Every U.S. president since Calvin Coolidge has attended at least one event at the theater.