About the Celebration

Welcome to our 7th annual pre-season Prelude celebration - this year showcasing outstanding performing arts from all 50 states!

Prelude 2008: Arts Across America brings together talents from every region of our nation, from American masters and bearers of tradition to young innovators developing their craft. The festivities mark the 50th anniversary of the National Cultural Center Act signed by President Eisenhower, as well as the reopening of our newly renovated theater named in his honor.

Aug. 30-Oct. 5, don't miss these exciting performance highlights and much more!

• The NSO Pops welcomes folk singer Arlo Guthrie, plus Broadway veteran Linda Eder sings Judy Garland.
• The Blind Boys of Alabama join forces with Preservation Hall Jazz Band for a mix of gospel and New Orleans fun in Down by the Riverside.
• Broadway: Three Generations reopens our Eisenhower Theater with concert versions of 3 great musicals.
• NSO Nights at the Movies lets you enjoy music and images from your favorite films.
• Mos Def - produced by Jill Newman Productions - brings his genre-bending sounds to the Concert Hall.
• The one-man show the break/s dramatizes a living history of the hip hop generation.
• Our 24th annual Open House Arts Festival offers a full day of free family-friendly performances all around the building – from an exciting Step Show to The Suzanne Farrell Ballet.
• Plenty of other free events include daily Millennium Stage shows like the "105 Voices of History" National Choir and Roadhouse featuring American social dance, as well as our 7th annual Page-to-Stage new play festival.