While President Donald Trump’s board “unanimously” voted to add his name to the Kennedy Center, artists are mounting a growing resistance.
That protest has now gained a powerful new voice, as an influential figure has joined artists pushing back against the proposed name change.
Wicked composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz said on Thursday that he will join the artists who have said they will not perform at the Kennedy Center.
Highlights
- Stephen Schwartz, composer of Wicked, cancels Kennedy Center gala appearance, citing loss of apolitical artistic freedom.
- The Kennedy Center Board renamed the venue after Trump, sparking artist boycotts and lawsuits over the decision.
- Artist cancellations and plummeting subscriptions caused a major financial hit, with sales dropping over 36% since Trump took over.
‘Wicked’ composer Stephen Schwartz says he will cancel his appearance at the Kennedy Center
Image credits: John Nacion/Getty Images
The three-time Academy Award winner was scheduled to host the Washington National Opera Gala at the Kennedy Center on May 16, but cancelled it, citing that the arts institution “no longer represents the apolitical place for free artistic expression it was founded to be.”
“There’s no way I would set foot in it now,” he added.
In December last year, the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees voted to rename the venue ‘The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.’ Workers quickly began changing the building’s signage on December 19 in Washington, D.C.
While the White House called the vote unanimous, Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, posted on social media that her microphone was “muted” when she tried to speak out against the name change.
Image credits: Celal Gunes/Getty Images
Beatty has since filed a lawsuit to remove Trump’s name from the institution.
The name change follows broader leadership changes at the Kennedy Center. Earlier this year, Trump was elected chair of the board after several trustees were removed.
Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter was ousted in February, and the board now includes several current officials from the Trump administration, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Second Lady Usha Vance, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, and Allison Lutnick, the wife of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Schwartz’s history with the Kennedy Center dates back five decades, when he helped Leonard Bernstein launch the venue in 1971. He told Newsday that he had been invited to host the May 16 gala “way before” the name change, but hadn’t heard anything since Trump first took over the board in February.
Image credits: The White House/Flickr
“I have assumed it’s no longer happening,” he said. “If it is happening, of course, I will not be part of it.”
The Washington Post revealed earlier this week that Trump’s board had quietly changed its bylaws back in May, more than six months before voting to add his name to the building.
But the saga of artists cancelling their shows began all the way back in February, after Trump was elected chair of the board. Emmy-nominated actor Issa Rae announced in February that she was canceling her sold-out March performance.
The producers of Hamilton pulled the plug a few weeks later on several shows scheduled for March and April 2026.
After the center was renamed in December, performers including jazz group The Cookers, dance company Doug Varone and Dancers, and singer Kristy Lee cancelled their events.
Drummer Chuck Redd canceled his Christmas Eve Jazz Jam, an annual tradition since 2006.
Schwartz joined several other artists protesting the addition of Trump’s name to the center
Image credits: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
The name change has also been deemed unconstitutional by some lawmakers, who argue that changing the Kennedy Center’s name requires congressional approval because the original name was set by federal law in 1964.
Kennedy Center Interim President Richard Grenell said artists canceling shows were “far-left political activists” and that they had been booked by previous leadership.
“Boycotting the arts to show you support the arts is a form of derangement syndrome,” he said in a statement on Monday. Grenell also threatened to sue Redd for $1 million for cancelling the Christmas Eve show, calling it “classic intolerance.”
But Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center has caused a dent in revenue. Former Kennedy Center dance director Jane Raleigh told The Athletic that subscription rates were “down about 50% over where they should have been.”
Since Trump was elected chair of the board, subscription sales at the venue dropped 36% compared to last year, translating to a $1.6 million decline, The Washington Post reported, and The New York Times reported that single-ticket sales fell by 50% in April and May.