Washington Post (10/31/25) Andrews, Travis M.; Merrill, Jeremy B.; Tan, Shelly

Nearly nine months after President Trump became chair of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and more than one month into its main season, ticket sales for the landmark venue's three biggest performance spaces are the worst they have been in years, a Washington Post analysis of ticketing data from dozens of recent shows, as well as past seasons shows. Since early September, 43 percent of tickets remained unsold for a typical production. Consequently, at most, 57 percent of tickets have been sold for the typical production, and some seats may have been "comped," meaning given away to staffers, the press or various VIPs. "That compares with 93 percent sold or comped in fall 2024 and 80 percent in fall 2023," notes the research. For its results, the Post collected and analyzed ticket sales data from Sept. 3 to Oct. 19 to reveal an across-the-board drop-off in the Kennedy Center's major theaters: the Opera House, the Concert Hall and the Eisenhower Theater.

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