‘Hamilton’ Producers Cancel Upcoming Kennedy Center Engagement: “Some Institutions Are Sacred And Should Be Protected From Politics”

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Producers of Hamilton, the massively fashionable Lin-Manuel Miranda musical, person canceled a planned 2026 engagement astatine the Kennedy Center successful Washington, D.C., decrying the “recent purge by the Trump Administration” of the venue’s nonrecreational unit and center-produced events.

“Given these caller actions, our amusement simply cannot, successful bully conscience, enactment and beryllium a portion of this caller civilization that is being imposed connected the Kennedy Center,” said shaper Jeffrey Seller successful a statement. “Therefore, we person cancelled the 3rd engagement of Hamilton astatine the Kennedy Center, primitively scheduled for March 3-April 26, 2026.”

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The engagement would person been the 3rd tally of Hamilton astatine the Kennedy Center.

“Hamilton was proudly performed astatine the Kennedy Center successful 2018 during the archetypal Trump administration,” Seller said. “We are not acting against his administration, but against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center arsenic a effect of his caller takeover.”

The astonishing determination comes conscionable weeks aft the Kennedy Center announced that its planned circuit of its children’s philharmonic Finn had been canceled, arsenic good arsenic an upcoming show by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C.

“Political disagreement and statement are captious expressions of democracy,” Seller said. “These basal concepts of state are astatine the precise bosom of Hamilton. However, immoderate institutions are ineffable and should beryllium protected from politics. The Kennedy Center is 1 specified institution.”

See Seller’s full connection below.

According to Seller, the actions taken by the Kennedy Center successful caller weeks person “seen decades of Kennedy Center neutrality beryllium destroyed.”

“The caller purge by the Trump Administration of some nonrecreational unit and performing arts events astatine oregon primitively produced by the Kennedy Center flies successful the look of everything this nationalist taste halfway represents,” helium said. “This tone of nonpartisanship ended connected February 7, 2025, with the firing of Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter, the Chairman of the Board David Rubenstein, galore different Kennedy Center committee members, and the cancellation of important programming. These actions bring a caller tone of partisanship to the nationalist treasure that is the Kennedy Center.”

The cancellation, Seller noted, “is besides a concern decision.”

“Hamilton is simply a ample and planetary production,” Seller stated, “and it would simply beryllium financially and personally devastating to the hundreds of employees of Hamilton if the caller enactment of the Kennedy Center abruptly cancelled oregon re-negotiated our engagement. The actions of the caller Chairman of the Board successful caller weeks show that contracts and erstwhile agreements simply cannot beryllium trusted. This is sad, due to the fact that basal integrity and the regularisation of instrumentality person agelong been large American principles that assistance service arsenic a instauration for our Nation.”

Deadline has reached retired to the Kennedy Center for comment.

Last month, the Kennedy Center confirmed that it had canceled an upcoming circuit of the Center-produced Finn, a children’s philharmonic astir a young shark who, successful the words of the show’s creators Chris Nee, Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond, “wants to fto retired his interior fish.” The shark quality subsequently adopts a sparkly benignant successful opposition to the drab grey of his chap sharks.

While the Center described the cancelation arsenic “a purely fiscal decision,” and said that the determination had been made anterior to the alteration successful committee leadership, the determination was met with an outcry among fans of the amusement – which had debuted astatine the Center successful November – arsenic good arsenic the LGBTQ assemblage and the theatre manufacture astatine large.

As Deadline first reported, the circuit cancelation prompted Stars successful the House creators Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley Jackson on with Finn creators Nee, Kooman and Dimond, to signifier a one-night-only livestream presumption of the amusement astatine New York’s Town Hall connected March 17. The philharmonic volition beryllium performed by Broadway stars Andrew Rannells, Andrea Martin, Kelli O’Hara, Bonnie Milligan, Jessie Mueller, Nikki M. James, Jose Llana, Lea Salonga and Hennessy Winkler, on with members of the archetypal Kennedy Center cast.

The Town Hall evening volition besides diagnostic a show by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C. and members of New York City Gay Men’s Chorus. A information of the proceeds from the lawsuit volition payment The Trevor Project, the starring termination prevention and situation involution enactment for LGBTQ+ young people.

Here is Seller’s connection successful its entirety:

“Political disagreement and statement are captious expressions of democracy. These basal concepts of state are astatine the precise bosom of Hamilton. However, immoderate institutions are ineffable and should beryllium protected from politics. The Kennedy Center is 1 specified institution.

“The Kennedy Center was founded implicit 50 years agone with a sincere bipartisan spirit. Indeed, it was founded during the medication of President Dwight Eisenhower, named aft President John F. Kennedy, and opened successful 1971 nether the medication of Richard M. Nixon. The Kennedy Center was meant to beryllium for each Americans, a spot wherever we could each travel unneurotic successful solemnisation of the arts. Politics person ne'er affected the presumption of thousands of shows and the show of bonzer ocular arts.

“However, successful caller weeks we person sadly seen decades of Kennedy Center neutrality beryllium destroyed. The caller purge by the Trump Administration of some nonrecreational unit and performing arts events astatine oregon primitively produced by the Kennedy Center flies successful the look of everything this nationalist taste halfway represents. This tone of nonpartisanship ended connected February 7, 2025, with the firing of Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter, the Chairman of the Board David Rubenstein, galore different Kennedy Center committee members, and the cancellation of important programming. These actions bring a caller tone of partisanship to the nationalist treasure that is the Kennedy Center.

“Given these caller actions, our amusement simply cannot, successful bully conscience, enactment and beryllium a portion of this caller civilization that is being imposed connected the Kennedy Center. Therefore, we person cancelled the 3rd engagement of Hamilton astatine the Kennedy Center, primitively scheduled for March 3-April 26, 2026.

“Hamilton was proudly performed astatine the Kennedy Center successful 2018 during the archetypal Trump administration. We are not acting against his administration, but against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center arsenic a effect of his caller takeover.

“Our cancellation is besides a concern decision. Hamilton is simply a ample and planetary production, and it would simply beryllium financially and personally devastating to the hundreds of employees of Hamilton if the caller enactment of the Kennedy Center abruptly cancelled oregon re-negotiated our engagement. The actions of the caller Chairman of the Board successful caller weeks show that contracts and erstwhile agreements simply cannot beryllium trusted. This is sad, due to the fact that basal integrity and the regularisation of instrumentality person agelong been large American principles that assistance service arsenic a instauration for our Nation.

“I person personally loved the Kennedy Center since touring it arsenic a seventh grader successful 1977 on with the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. I watched the archetypal Kennedy Center Honors successful 1978. Regardless of the governmental climate, I person ever felt astatine location astatine The Kennedy Center, and I americium grateful for each idiosyncratic who has spent the past 50 years making it a beacon of nonpartisanship and celebration. But we cannot presently enactment an instauration that has been forced by outer forces to betray its ngo arsenic a nationalist taste halfway that fosters the escaped look of creation successful The United States of America.”

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