Posted on 03/05/2025 3:21:18 PM PST by nickcarraway
Producer Jeffrey Seller said the show could not participate in the "new culture" of the institution.
Hamilton will no longer play the Kennedy Center next season in light of President Trump’s takeover of the institution.
The hit musical was set to perform at the Kennedy Center in March 2026, at what would have been the show’s third engagement at the theater. However, lead producer Jeffrey Seller cited the firings of the Kennedy Center president and of the chairman of the board, as well as the cancellation of programming at the center as reasons not to move forward.
“Given the recent actions, our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center,” Seller said in a statement.
In February, Trump became chairman of the institution and ousted Democratic members of the Kennedy Center Board. The contract of Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter was terminated as was that of chairman David M. Rubenstein, after Trump had previously said he would fire him and install himself as chair.
Ric Grenell, who worked in the previous Trump administration, has been named interim executive director and said he plans to “make art great again” and with near-term plans to do “a huge celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas.”
Several notable names affiliated with the Kennedy Center resigned following the news, including Ben Folds, Renée Fleming and Shonda Rhimes. Issa Rae cancelled her show at the Kennedy Center.
Seller noted that the Kennedy Center had previously had bipartisan support and politics had not impacted the institution in the past. To that point, Hamilton had previously played the Kennedy Center in 2018 during the prior Trump administration.
“We are not acting against his administration, but against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center as a result of his recent takeover,” the statement reads.
However, the previous Trump administration did have run-in with Hamilton. When Vice President Mike Pence attended the Broadway production he was booed by audience members and was addressed by cast members during the curtain call who remarked on the diversity in the cast and called on the administration to protect all Americans.
Seller added that he was unsure whether the production of Hamilton at the Kennedy Center could have been abruptly cancelled.
“Our cancellation is also a business decision. Hamilton is a large and global production, and it would simply be financially and personally devastating to the hundreds of employees of Hamilton if the new leadership of the Kennedy Center suddenly cancelled or re-negotiated our engagement. The actions of the new Chairman of the Board in recent weeks demonstrate that contracts and previous agreements simply cannot be trusted,” he said.
So happy.
Is this the all black Hamilton?
99.44% racially pure “Hamilton”. 🫥
In case someone forgot when Mike Pence was considered a dangerous right wing zealot on Trump’s side, here is a quick video of the nasty, self-absorbed, anti-American wokesters insulting Pence and his wife from the Broadway stage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UTcJrAiAJk
Hahahahahahaha Bill Burr!
The funny thing is, 10 or more years ago Lin-Manuel Miranda was considered good by the woke equivalent people.
In the last four or five years, they consider him part of the problem and anti-woke and he gets a lot of flack for being "bad."
Once July of 2020 hit, that musical was seen as part of the problem.
The funny thing is, 10 or more years ago Lin-Manuel Miranda was considered good by the woke equivalent people.
In the last four or five years, they consider him part of the problem and anti-woke and he gets a lot of flack for being "bad."
Once July of 2020 hit, that musical was seen as part of the problem.
I would love to meet Mr. Sowell and have a chat with him.
I wish we had younger Thomas Sowell on the horizon.
Indeed!
Hamilton has had a 10-yr run. Time to retire the production is long overdue. I guess using Trump as an excuse might sell a few more tickets temporarily but whoever wanted to see it has probably seen it multiple times and grown bored.
I think the opposite is probably the reality. The Kennedy Center canceled ‘Hamilton’.
-PJ
Kennedy Center director Ric Grenell blasts ‘Hamilton’ producers for canceling plans to perform at venue
Not tired of winning !
FROM https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hamilton-kennedy-center_n_67c8d687e4b0bdda614f76cd
‘Hamilton’ Cancels Its Run At The Kennedy Center Amid Trump Overhaul
The president of the performing arts center claimed the cancellation is because Lin-Manuel Miranda “can’t be in the same room with Republicans.”
The hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” has canceled its eight-week run in 2026 at the Kennedy Center amid President Donald Trump’s takeover of the national performing arts center.
Jeffrey Seller, the producer of “Hamilton,” wrote on the play’s official Instagram that political debate and disagreement are “vital expressions of democracy,” but that the Kennedy Center should be “protected from politics.”
“However, in recent weeks we have sadly seen decades of Kennedy Center neutrality be destroyed,” Seller wrote. “The recent purge by the Trump Administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center flies in the face of everything this national cultural center represents.”
The Tony Award-winning play about Alexander Hamilton was scheduled to return to the D.C. venue from March 3 through April 26, 2026.
When asked for comment, the Kennedy Center directed HuffPost to a post from Richard Grenell, the Trump-appointed president of the Kennedy Center. Grenell wrote on X that Seller and Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of “Hamilton,” “can’t be in the same room with Republicans.” He also called the move a “publicity stunt that will backfire.”
...MORE
Bew hew....cry harder, Miranda.
“Neutrality” means you can’t be in the same room as Republicans?
They are completely brain-washed.
Nauseating.
Is the Kennedy Center owned and run by the Federal Government? If so, where in the Constitution is this permitted?
Solution: Sell it!
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