Dem
47
GOP
53
It's been long enough since we wrote a "schadenfreude" (excepting the bonus schadenfreude earlier this week) that we did not realize that the last one was ALSO about the Kennedy Center. We guess that institution has become a vergence in the schadenfreude force.
Readers will recall, of course, that Donald Trump and his acolytes, in complete contravention of very specific statutes, managed to "rename" the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts." This was a "unanimous" decision of the board, a unanimity achieved by disenfranchising all 23 ex officio board members, and muting their microphones when they tried to speak. Because the change has no basis in law, the new name will last until approximately January 20, 2029, at 12:01 p.m. And it might not last that long, because members of the Kennedy family have already sued.
This change has naturally put the Kennedy Center right at the forefront of the culture wars. That was the intent of Trump, and of his handpicked director-lackey, Richard Grenell. Trump himself said that he would decide what shows were appropriate, and that there would be no more drag shows or LGBTQ-positive programming. Not long thereafter, the new children's musical Finn was canceled by Grenell. Finn is described, by its producers, as "Finn can't shake the feeling that he's different from the other sharks. Deep inside, he discovers a colorful fish inside him—a part of himself that longs to sparkle, sing, and dance. As Finn embarks on a journey of self-discovery, friendship, and adventure, he finds the courage to be himself!"
OK, so it's an allegory for being gay (and, in case you missed the message, in the poster for the show, Finn is rainbow-colored and fabulous). But even allegorically gay is too gay for Grenell, despite the fact that Grenell himself is gay. So, no show. It's really interesting where this administration does, and does not, see "gay." Remember this is a president who loves Phantom of the Opera and "YMCA." And, well, uh... we'll just leave this here and this here.
The Trump administration also canceled a pride concert scheduled for May, to be headlined by the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington. Because, as everyone knows, singing for you is how they recruit new gay people. It's like the sirens from Greek mythology, except that instead of ending with a violent death, it ends with brunch.
And it's not entirely LGBTQ material, either. Grenell also canceled a planned run of Eureka Day, a dramedy about vaccination that just had a successful run on Broadway. Presumably, that cancellation was a personal favor to Robert Kennedy Jr.
But if you're going to make the Kennedy Center a part of the culture wars, then it goes both ways. You don't just get to cancel the shows and artists you don't like; you have to be prepared to be canceled on by the shows and artists who don't like you. Heck, you also have to be prepared to be canceled on by the shows and artists whose FANS don't like you, since those fans are likely to take a performance at the so-called Trump-Kennedy Center as an endorsement of Trump in general, and of his pi**ing on the legacy of Jack Kennedy in particular.
The first to cancel, as we wrote about in the previous Kennedy Center schadenfreude item, was jazz musician Chuck Redd, who called off his annual Christmas Eve jazz concert. Grenell reacted with outrage, and sent a sharply worded letter to Redd promising a lawsuit. We have to assume this was performative outrage. Trump and Grenell had to know this was coming, right? They couldn't really be that dense, could they?
In any event, if the administration is actually going to sue everyone who cancels a Kennedy Center booking, they're going to have to devote half the Department of Justice to the job. Since Redd bailed out, there have been a lot of others:
This is not a comprehensive list. In addition, numerous folks who were serving in voluntary advisory roles, including soprano Renée Fleming, musician Ben Folds and TV producer Shonda Rimes, have resigned from their positions.
And even if a show, or a performer, decides to stick with their engagement, perhaps arguing that "art should not be silenced," they are at risk of playing to a substantially empty house. Since the change in direction, and then in name, was announced (making a visit to the venue a de facto endorsement of Trumpism), ticket sales have taken a dive. The average show has moved only about half its inventory (and it may have actually SOLD less than half, because of comps). That's more empty seats than the venue had when (slowly) reopening after the pandemic. Overall, ticket sales are down 52% this year.
We don't know exactly what Team Trump was thinking when they decided to reinvent the Kennedy Center. The schedule that was in place was in place because the people who used to run the place know what works, and what sells tickets. Let us not forget that this is a city that is substantially well-off, substantially educated, substantially liberal and substantially Black. It is not surprising that the list of shows included a lot of "high culture," and a lot of politically edgy (but not THAT edgy) fare, and a lot of Black performers (often doing music styles invented by Black people).
Actually, there is at least one piece of evidence that the administration had no plan, and that it was just making things up on the fly, as it so often does. Pop quiz #2: If you are going to change the name of your sports team, or your high-profile business, or your prominent entertainment venue, what is the FIRST thing you do, before anyone gets wind of your plans? You secure the correct URL, right? Because if someone beats you to it, they can hold you hostage for a king's ransom, or they can just refuse to sell (this is not true for a trademarked name, of course, but that does not describe "Trump-Kennedy Center").
Undoubtedly, readers know where this is going. A comedian named Toby Morton had more foresight than the entire Trump Administration, and grabbed www.trumpkennedycenter.org. It is a satire, of course, and is still in rough-draft form. However, it does promise an upcoming performance by the Epstein Dancers.
Who knows what is next, at least for the next 3 years of Kennedy Center bookings. They could try a residency for Lee Greenwood, or Kid Rock, or Ted Nugent, but we suspect those tickets will be even harder to move. Or maybe they will make it into Mar-a-Lago North, and will host the Marie Antoinette-themed furry parties in D.C., moving forward (we are not making this up). Probably, they will just leave it dark a lot of the time, figuring that the loss of a bunch of snooty operas, and Black music, and "lib" plays is no great loss.
Whatever happens, the whole thing is really an embarrassment. Sure, it might please the base, but the base is already pleased, and we really wonder how much they care about the Kennedy Center, one way or another. For everyone else, we think, it just looks petty and pathetic, not to mention an affront to the memory of a beloved former president. (Z)