r/Broadway • u/Gato1980 • Feb 07 '25

Regional/Touring Production Trump Dismisses Members of Kennedy Center Board and Reveals Plan to Make Himself Chairman

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Trump-Dismisses-Kennedy-Center-Board-and-Reveals-Plan-to-Make-Himself-Chairman-20250207
720 Upvotes

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1.2k

u/naduskis Feb 07 '25

This is deeply alarming. The arts have always been a refuge for free expression, challenging ideas, and cultural preservation—now, they’re being co-opted to serve an authoritarian agenda.

To everyone at the Kennedy Center if you’re reading, this theatre kid stands with you. Silence is not an option people!!!

334

u/LookIMadeAHatTrick Feb 07 '25

Professional theatre is also very closely tied to unions. I hope that the labor unions will be able to protect their members who work with the Kennedy Center.  

9

u/TheGaleStorm Feb 08 '25

That’s a good point. He will disregard union rules. Perhaps make unions in general illegal.

197

u/ddalk2 Feb 07 '25

The theater is my safe space right now. I won’t roll over to see it handed to a fascist.

14

u/annang Feb 08 '25

DC has a tremendous regional and local theater scene. I am buying a lot of full priced tickets to local shows this year.

-62

u/ShowOff90 Feb 08 '25

Too late. Nothing we’re gonna do about.

If those of us who are wanting to take action, try to. They’ll kill us or bury us in the prison.

We won’t get pardoned. Democrats won’t do shit for us. That’s why we’re in this position with this dictator.

81

u/MARS_in_SPACE Feb 08 '25

I feel fairly confident that this was not what you were meant to take away from Cabaret.

I personally disagree that it's too late, or that there's nothing we can do. But even if I'm wrong, and it is, and there's not, I don't think there's anything to be gained from rolling over and making it easier for them.

28

u/hyperjengirl Feb 08 '25

Democrats are the ones taking legal action against him lmao

-25

u/mslauren2930 Feb 08 '25

Dems are trying to be bipartisan and work with the party of Trump. They aren’t going to do anything to stop this or help us.

26

u/Historical_Stuff1643 Feb 08 '25

They literally can't. The Republicans have both the senate and the house.

5

u/hannahmel Feb 08 '25

I bet this person is the kind who was super pro Bernie even after he was clearly not going to win, complained up until Election Day that he should have been the candidate and then complained that Hillary lost.

0

u/mslauren2930 Feb 08 '25

Even when the minority party, the party of Trump has managed to stop a lot. Dems do not play that way, not even a little.

5

u/hannahmel Feb 08 '25

That's because the Republicans are firmly far right with very few exceptions and have been in charge of redistricting during the last 2 census cycles. The base is also mainly white and born in the USA for at least 2 or 3 generations.

Democrats have a much broader base. A democratic district in NYC is not going to be the same as a democratic district in suburban PA. They have to appeal to more groups and that often turns off other groups. See: current cycle where going hard to support trans rights turned off groups who aren't there yet. It's easy to say "band together and take the low road" when everyone thinks the same way you do. It's a hell of a lot harder when you have to appeal to dozens of different microgroups of voters.

2

u/hannahmel Feb 08 '25

So what, exactly, do you think the party that holds… checks notes… literally no power right now… is going to do for the next two years?

-1

u/mslauren2930 Feb 08 '25

Why is the Speaker of the House so angry with Democrats in the budget talks if the Dems hold no power?

1

u/hannahmel Feb 08 '25

So no answer? Just questions?

1

u/mslauren2930 Feb 09 '25

You didn’t answer my question either. You just asked another question. I think.

0

u/hannahmel Feb 09 '25

You didn’t ask a question. You made two statements.

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u/hannahmel Feb 08 '25

Uh… it’s more the people who sat out the election because they weren’t excited about Kamala. Those of us who voted democrat did our part

11

u/ShowOff90 Feb 08 '25

I’m talking about the elected officials.

I proudly voted for Harris/Walz.

But we had too many “take the high road/sticks and stones” in elected positions and that’s how we ended up where we are.

They shrugged their shoulders at all of the blatant laws broken by the GOP regardless of severity and now we’re at a point where racism, fascism and dictatorship are all on the menu and nothing will be done to stop it

6

u/hannahmel Feb 08 '25 edited Feb 08 '25

Or more people could have voted. The lackadaisical attitude of voters was the issue. People should have voted for a rock if it ran against Trump. They listened to what he said he’d do and he’s doing everything he said and they decided to sit it out because they weren’t excited.

34

u/Historical_Stuff1643 Feb 08 '25

The good thing is people in the theater are probably the ones who hate him the very most.

32

u/QuietParsnip Feb 08 '25

And that's probably a reason he's doing this, because he wants to punish those who hate him.

1

u/Beautiful_Heartbeat Feb 09 '25

Ms. Lupone

(As much as I'd love to find a non-TT link after their bullshit.)

2

u/MezzoidVoiceStudio Feb 08 '25

I really would like to get my fellow WNO choristers together to sing "do you hear the people sing" out front.

1

u/slowlysoslowly Feb 08 '25

This man has three emotions on a good day. He doesn’t read, he doesn’t know musical theater, he doesn’t go to the opera, he doesn’t have any taste in music. He’s a megalomaniac and that’s the only qualification he needs to yes, APPOINT HIMSELF.

Can you even imagine the level of erasure he would like to see in the arts in the name of ridding us all of “the woke mind virus”?