Rhode Island Center — Local services in Washington

A Beautiful Performance Tarnished By Poor Management

Let me preface by saying that this review is NOT for the performance of the Hans Zimmer Candlelight orchestra. That performance will get a full five stars over on Fever. This review is for the absolutely abysmal management of the Rhode Island Center. Before the performance, it was stated that the doors were closed and that no late admission would be allowed, even to complete already seated parties. It was also stated that there was a zero-tolerance policy on phone usage and recording. Throughout the first 20 minutes of the performance, no less than five large influxes of late comers were allowed in. Not only was this movement of people trying to find their seats late distracting, but three out of these five groups tripped, causing a loud commotion and knocking over the (artificial) candles. One of these occurrences even resulted in the offender exclaiming loudly. There were also many instances of people using their phones during the performance, either to record or to text. Obviously these are the violations of rude attendees. However, the management crew did not enforce this at ALL. It was management that broke their policy and disrupted the performance by allowing large groups in who could not meet a simple showtime. It was management that did not do anything when these groups caused loud commotions while entering. It was management who did not enforce the phone-usage policy. And it was management who could not even provide a microphone to the performers effective enough for the audience to understand what they were saying as they introduced the next song. I never write reviews, but I had to for this, because it is not an exaggeration to say that the first half of this amazing performance was effectively ruined by the management at Rhode Island Center. I am appalled by the sheer incompetence that was on display and will avoid coming here ever again, no matter the...

The exhibit replicas are impressive. A nice way to spend an hour and a half. Presented as educational to give historical context to the original archaelogical finds. I wouldn't think young children would be interested. The venue wasn't particularly great,,,very convention center like. I had a 10am ticket, and the doors were locked until exactly 10 despite it being almost 100 degrees outside. No shade or covering to speak of. Prepare to pay for parking by bar code scan/app. 2hrs was a...

BE AWARE. There are no original artifacts at all in this exhibition. The entire exhibition is made up of replicas, some of which are really bad. I could see solder and cheap paint on a lot of it. This would be fine, but the way it's marketed seems very deceptive to me. I bought 4 tickets, for about $35 a piece. I was pretty disappointed when I realized nothing was real. Kinda cool for education I guess, but this would be like going to an art gallery full of cheap prints, it's just...