Since President Trump took over the Kennedy Center in February, the institution has cancelled a number of Pride-related events. In protest, Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller and five Democratic Senators are going to stage a Pride-themed concert at the Kennedy Center the evening of June 23.
, senators are allowed to rent space at the Kennedy Center. So the Democratic senators asked to rent the 144-seat Justice Hall and didn't tell the Kennedy Center what they needed it for. The invitation-only event will be called Love Is Love and will feature queer-themed songs and readings. The participants include Tony winners John Cameron Mitchell, Lisa Kron, and Brandon Uranowitz, as well as Andrew Lippa, Beth Malone, Jelani Remy, Hennessy Winkler, Alexis Michelle, Dylan Toms, Javier Mu帽oz, Kathryn Gallagher, and Brandi Chavonne Massey.
The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C. (whose previously planned concert had been cancelled at the Kennedy Center), will also perform. The title of the concert is a Pride slogan, and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda quoted it in a 2016 Tony Awards acceptance speech.
Seller produced the event, after being invited to participate from Senator John Hickenlooper of Colorado. As Seller told the Times: 鈥淭his is our way of reoccupying the Kennedy Center. This is a form of saying, 鈥榃e are here, we exist, and you can鈥檛 ignore us.鈥� This is a protest, and a political act.鈥� Seller previously pulled a planned engagement of Hamilton from the Kennedy Center as protest against the Trump Administration.
Seth Rudetsky and his husband, James Wesley Jackson, are directing the event. They previously helped organize a Broadway Rallies for Kamala event during the 2024 election.
Said Rudetsky to 半岛体育: "I am honored that Jeffrey Seller reached out to me and my husband James to help put this concert together after Jeffrey was contacted by the Senator's office. We decided together that we wanted to create concert of joy and pride! The gay community has been always integral to the arts and should be welcome in every artistic venue! I am so excited to be in the company of so many amazing queer artists who will be performing songs from the Broadway canon that celebrate PRIDE! Stay tuned for photos and videos of fabulous harmonies and belting!"
The senators involved include Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin), Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Jacky Rosen (Nevada), and Brian Schatz (Hawaii).
Amongst the Center's recent cancellations were a children's musical called Finn, that featured themes which could be interpreted as queer. The Kennedy Center run of Broadway's Eureka Day, currently a 2025 Tony nominee for Best Revival of a Play, was also cancelled. The Jonathan Spector-penned work is about the anti-vax movement and its effect on discourse.
This change of leadership has garnered numerous responses in the artistic community. The Hamilton tour stop was cancelled by the production, while a number of actors refused to perform during the June 11 performance of Les Mis茅rables, where Trump was in attendance.
The venue's new leadership has not been forthcoming with its exact programming guidelines, though Trump has written in social media posts that he wanted to rid the venue of "drag shows鈥� and "woke" programming, without defining that word or specifying what previous Kennedy Center presentations he found objectionable. Notably, Mrs. Doubtfire and Chicago, both of which prominently feature drag performances, were newly announced for the Center's upcoming seasons after Trump's comments and takeover.
In addition to programming changes, Trump is also focused on the building itself. He recently asked Congress to allocate $257 million to the Kennedy Center for capital repairs and other expenses, an interesting choice after all but eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts whose work of providing grants to arts organization nationwide was budgeted at $207 million. Trump has repeatedly and publicly complained about the building's current condition. The center typically receives $43 million. Congress still needs to vote on that proposal.
Trump's focus on the Kennedy Center, as well as his administration's move to cut staff and funding at the National Endowment for the Arts, shows an intention to influence the arts nationally.
