Bill O'Leary The Washington Post
Washington’s 14-week run of “Hamilton” is the latest casualty of the coronavirus-related closures, as the Kennedy Center announced Monday that it will remain shuttered through at least Aug. 8.
Set to open June 16 and run through Sept. 20, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s groundbreaking musical will be postponed because the production cannot be presented “in accordance with the health and safety guidelines set forth by government officials and the CDC,” according to the arts center. Kennedy Center executives are working with the musical’s producers to reschedule.
Another spring highlight, the National Symphony Orchestra’s “Beethoven at 250” celebration, set for May 28 though June 14, has been scrapped for now, and will be rescheduled for sometime next season. The number of events at the Kennedy Center that have been postponed or canceled now exceeds 1,000.
Kennedy Center president and chief executive Deborah Rutter was not available Monday. In the announcement she described the move as necessary to ensure the safety of artists, staff and patrons.
“During unprecedented moments in history we look to the arts and artists for hope and creative reflections of humanity, but at this time we are not able to gather physically, communally, as we have before,” Rutter said in a statement. “I am heartbroken by these necessary steps that have emptied our halls that are usually bursting with the sights and sounds of creative genius.”
About 250 staff members who were furloughed last month learned Monday that they will be out of work until at least June 7, extending the original five-week leave to at least nine weeks. Health benefits will continue through June 30, according to a letter sent to the furloughed employees by Barbara Polk, chief human resources officer.
“Information regarding reinstatement, furlough extension or other changes to your employment status will be sent to your personal email address by May 29, 2020,” Polk wrote.
Patrick Semansky
AP
Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter on the campus of the Reach, the arts center’s new space.
The arts center’s insurance company has agreed to extend health benefits through Aug. 30 if needed, according to Kennedy Center spokesman Brendan Padgett. Senior-level pay cuts remain, and some of those executives “will be furloughed on a rolling basis in the coming months,” he said.
[After receiving $25 million in federal aid, the Kennedy Center furloughs National Symphony Orchestra]
The extended furloughs come on the heels of an agreement reached Saturday between the arts center and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. The musicians in the ensemble, which performs with the Washington National Opera and for many Kennedy Center dance concerts, agreed to a 25 percent pay cut for the remaining weeks of guaranteed work this year. The orchestra’s health-care benefits will continue without interruption. Padgett said the agreement “amounts to a 28 percent savings.”
“While these cuts represent real sacrifice for our members, we are grateful for the annual employment guarantees that protect us somewhat, and our thoughts are with our fellow center employees whose employment contracts (individual and collective) do not afford them similar protections,” Peter de Boor, a horn player and the chairman of the orchestra committee, said in an email. “We recognize that this terrible time requires sacrifices from everyone, including us, to preserve these institutions.”
The musicians have been negotiating with the Washington National Opera and the Kennedy Center since March. The agreement is similar to the deal with the musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra, which was reached after the Kennedy Center told NSO members they were being furloughed.
Padgett said that no decisions have been made regarding events past Aug. 8, including the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and the Kennedy Center Honors.
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‘Hamilton’ run postponed as Kennedy Center extends closure through Aug. 8 - The Washington Post
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