"Schwartz said the Kennedy Center "no longer represents the apolitical place for free artistic expression it was founded to be." He added, "There's no way I would set foot in it now." However, the Kennedy Center disputes that Schwartz was ever booked for the event by current leadership. "Stephen Schwartz was never discussed nor confirmed and never had a contract under current Trump Kennedy Center leadership," Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center's vice president of public relations, said in a statement to Rolling Stone."
"Whether or not Schwartz was ever booked at the Kennedy Center - and therefore did or didn't actually cancel a scheduled appearance - plenty of other artists have done so: Rhiannon Giddens, Ben Folds, Renée Fleming, a touring production of Hamilton, Christmas act Chuck Redd, and New Year's eve performers The Cookers are among the numerous acts who've canceled appearances at the Kennedy Center in light of Trump's takeover."
Kennedy Center leadership denied that Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz was ever booked to host the Washington National Opera Gala on May 16, even though tickets listing his name were available on the Kennedy Center website until Friday afternoon. Schwartz said in an email that the Kennedy Center 'no longer represents the apolitical place for free artistic expression it was founded to be' and stated he would not set foot there. Kennedy Center vice president Roma Daravi and president Ric Grenell said Schwartz was never discussed, confirmed, or signed under current leadership. Numerous other artists have canceled appearances in response to the Trump-era leadership change.
Read at Consequence
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]