President Trump plans to celebrate his takeover of the Kennedy Center by attending a collection of funds from Gala for the center in June with a performance of “Les Misérables”, one of his favorite musicals.
But the president’s evening at the theater already attracts events.
Several members of the distribution “Les Misérables” plan to boycott the performance, according to a person familiar with the situation which obtained anonymity because the discussions were considered confidential. The casting had the possibility of not making a dissemination of words to which Mr. Trump was planning to attend, said the person. The boycott was reported earlier by CNN.
Richard Grenell, whom Mr. Trump appointed president of Kennedy Center, said the center had heard no boycott.
“Any artist who is not professional enough to perform for customers from all walks of life, whatever his political affiliation, will not be welcomed,” he said in a statement. “In fact, we believe that it would be important to release these useless and intolerant artists to make sure that producers know who they should not hire – and that the public knows what programs have political decisive tests to sit in the public.”
He added: “The Kennedy Center wants to be a place where people of all political stripes are seated next to each other and never ask for whom someone voted but rather benefits from a performance together.”
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comments. Bond Theatrical, the agency supervising the tour “Les Misérables”, published a brief statement which did not address the question of artists who withdrew from the gala but declared that the show would be executed “throughout our commitment to the Kennedy Center”.
The takeover by Mr. Trump of Kennedy Center, and his decision to serve his board of directors previously bipartisan of the people appointed by Biden, caused an uproar among many artists. Several eminent personalities, including actress Issa Rae and musician Rhiannon Giddens, have canceled commitments at the center to protest. The musical “Hamilton” has abandoned a scheduled tour of next year.
Trump should participate in fundraising before the performance of “Les Misérables” on June 11. An invitation offered a level of gold sponsorship for $ 2 million and silver sponsorship per $ 100,000; Both come with photo sessions with Mr. Trump. “Les Misérables” should take place at Kennedy Center in mid-July.
Trump is a fan of Broadway musicals from the 1980s, including “Les Misérables”, “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera”.
When the president visited the center in March, he opened a meeting of the Board of Directors with a question: what musical is the best, “Phantom of the Opera” or “Les Misérables”?
Trump, who as a young man dreamed of becoming theater producer, told the Board of Directors that he had been informed that Broadway shows sold the best to the Kennedy Center, and undertook to present many, according to a registration of the meeting of the board of directors which was obtained by the New York Times. And he praised musical theater artists.
“When you go to watch” Les Miz “, when you go to watch” Phantom of the Opera “, you know how great some talents are,” he said. “I have always said, no pop star has a voice like what you just heard. I have always said that they are, for me, the greatest talents. And that’s all they want. They don’t want to make movies. They don’t want to do anything. They just want to make eight shows per week, with a morning on Wednesday, right? And they are extremely talented people. “
While Mr. Trump’s vision for Kennedy Center is still taking shape, he seems to repair the building, which opened its doors in 1971. A chamber committee approved a budget proposal last week which asked for an allocation of $ 257 million to Kennedy Center for capital repairs and other expenses, about six times the amount that she usually receives from the government. The funding was requested by Mr. Trump, according to a statement from the Committee.
