First, disclaimer. I am not related to anyone the theater is named after.
1. Like many theaters, it is really multiple theaters. There's an opera house, concert hall, millennium stage, the terrace theater, the theater lab, a family theater, and a jazz club, all with different capacities from small to large.
2. I have had the chance to be backstage in the rehearsal areas too, and there is so much behind where the average visitor goes.
3. Some things there are quite fancy, and some are very much not. Also some things are quite pricey, and some things are free and or cheap.
4. Having grown up in the area, my first memory of going there I think I was about five. My aunt and uncle took me and my cousin to see "Peter Pan".
5. "Shear Madness" was the second longest running non-musical in the US, until it recently had to close. (The longest was also "Shear Madness" in Boston. DC could have overtaken it since the Boston one closed, if recent events hadn't forced the closure of the DC run. I had every intention of dragging people to it, because I have a new group of friends I have not yet dragged to it. (In my defense, the last person I dragged to it, came with me to see it like three more times.)
6. The rooftop has a truly gorgeous view of both the city and the river.
7. DC has a lot of theaters compared to some other locales. But the loss of any is still a loss. Not every venue is suited for every kind of show. They put on things that won't all easily fit somewhere else. And the ecosystem is better and healthier with more options, not less.
