Wicked composer latest to cancel Kennedy Center gig after Trump name change
The composer of the musical Wicked has said he will not appear at the Kennedy Center after the board voted to include US President Donald Trump’s name in the venue’s name.
In his statement, Stephen Schwartz stated that appearing at the center “has now become an ideological statement” and added: “As long as this continues, I will not appear there.”
But the center’s president, Richard Grenell, said wrote to x He said reports that he had withdrawn from a premiere in May were “completely fake” and that he had never signed on to attend.
The Oscar and Grammy award-winning composer became the latest artist to say that he will no longer take part in the national cultural institution due to recent changes.
Schwartz told the BBC that at the end of 2024, the artistic director of the Washington National Opera asked him to attend the event with them in May.
He said he agreed, but had received very little communication since last February and assumed it would no longer happen.
The composer explained that a reporter contacted him on Thursday, saying the premiere had been announced at the Kennedy Center program and asked if he would attend.
The center’s website stated that it would be at the gala, but this was removed from the website Friday afternoon. According to CNN.
“The Kennedy Center was founded as an apolitical home for free artistic expression for artists of all nationalities and ideologies,” Schwartz, 77, said.
“It is no longer apolitical and appearing there has now become an ideological statement. As long as the situation continues like this, I will not appear there.”
But Mr. Grennell hit back: “Stephen Schwartz’s reporting is completely bogus. It’s a shame that woke high school reporters keep repeating it.”
“There was no signing and I haven’t had a single conversation about it since I arrived.
“He himself said last February that he had heard nothing about it.”
Two musical acts canceled their shows at the center earlier this week.
Master jazz band The Cookers said they canceled two New Year’s Eve shows. The group did not mention Trump or the Kennedy Center in its statement but said the decision was “made very quickly.”
Another group, Doug Varone and the Dancers, stated that they will not perform two shows in April due to the name change, adding: “We can no longer allow ourselves to and ask our audience to step inside this once wonderful institution.”
Mr. Grenell described the cancellations as “a kind of imbalance syndrome.”
Before them, jazz percussionist Chuck Redd talked about the Christmas Eve concert he has held at the center every year since 2006 due to the name change.
Mr. Grenell called it a “political demonstration” and Threatened to seek $1 million (£740,000) in damages.
The Kennedy Center’s board of directors, which Trump has filled with his allies, voted in December to rename the institution the Donald J Trump and John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. The next day, new signs appeared on the exterior of the building.
Some U.S. lawmakers and legal scholars have argued that Congress should have a say in any name change because the center’s name was specified in a 1964 law.
Some members of President John F. Kennedy’s family condemned the move. The center was named in Kennedy’s memory shortly after his assassination.
Joe Kennedy III, a former U.S. House member and great-nephew of the late president, said the venue “is a living monument to a deceased president and is named after President Kennedy in accordance with federal law.”
“No matter what anyone says, it cannot be renamed any more than someone would rename the Lincoln Memorial,” he added.
