‘Hamilton' Producers Cancel Upcoming Kennedy Center Engagement Following Trump Takeover: 'Some Institutions Are Sacred And Should Be Protected From Politics'
Producers of Hamilton, the massively popular Lin-Manuel Miranda musical, have canceled a planned 2026 engagement at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., decrying the 'recent purge by the Trump Administration' of the venue's professional staff and center-produced events.
'Given these recent actions, our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center,' said producer Jeffrey Seller in a statement. 'Therefore, we have cancelled the third engagement of Hamilton at the Kennedy Center, originally scheduled for March 3-April 26, 2026.'
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The engagement would have been the third run of Hamilton at the Kennedy Center.
'Hamilton was proudly performed at the Kennedy Center in 2018 during the first Trump administration,' Seller said. 'We are not acting against his administration, but against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center as a result of his recent takeover.'
The surprising move comes just weeks after the Kennedy Center announced that its planned tour of its children's musical Finn had been canceled, as well as an upcoming performance by the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington D.C.
'Political disagreement and debate are vital expressions of democracy,' Seller said. 'These basic concepts of freedom are at the very heart of Hamilton. However, some institutions are sacred and should be protected from politics. The Kennedy Center is one such institution.'
See Seller's entire statement below.
According to Seller, the actions taken by the Kennedy Center in recent weeks have 'seen decades of Kennedy Center neutrality be destroyed.'
'The recent purge by the Trump Administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center flies in the face of everything this national cultural center represents,' he said. 'This spirit of nonpartisanship ended on February 7, 2025, with the firing of Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter, the Chairman of the Board David Rubenstein, numerous other Kennedy Center board members, and the cancellation of important programming. These actions bring a new spirit of partisanship to the national treasure that is the Kennedy Center.'
The cancellation, Seller noted, 'is also a business decision.'
'Hamilton is a large and global production,' Seller stated, 'and it would simply be financially and personally devastating to the hundreds of employees of Hamilton if the new leadership of the Kennedy Center suddenly cancelled or re-negotiated our engagement. The actions of the new Chairman of the Board in recent weeks demonstrate that contracts and previous agreements simply cannot be trusted. This is sad, because basic integrity and the rule of law have long been great American principles that help serve as a foundation for our Nation.'
Deadline has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment.
Last month, the Kennedy Center confirmed that it had canceled an upcoming tour of the Center-produced Finn, a children's musical about a young shark who, in the words of the show's creators Chris Nee, Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond, 'wants to let out his inner fish.' The shark character subsequently adopts a sparkly style in contrast to the drab gray of his fellow sharks.
While the Center described the cancellation as 'a purely financial decision,' and said that the decision had been made prior to the change in board leadership, the decision was met with an outcry among fans of the show – which had debuted at the Center in November – as well as the LGBTQ community and the theater industry at large.
As Deadline first reported, the tour cancellation prompted Stars in the House creators Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley Jackson along with Finn creators Nee, Kooman and Dimond, to organize a one-night-only livestream presentation of the show at New York's Town Hall on March 17. The musical will be 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, along with members of the original Kennedy Center cast.
The Town Hall evening will also feature a performance by the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington DC and members of New York City Gay Men's Chorus. A portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people.
Here is Seller's statement in its entirety:
'Political disagreement and debate are vital expressions of democracy. These basic concepts of freedom are at the very heart of Hamilton. However, some institutions are sacred and should be protected from politics. The Kennedy Center is one such institution.'The Kennedy Center was founded over 50 years ago with a sincere bipartisan spirit. Indeed, it was founded during the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower, named after President John F. Kennedy, and opened in 1971 under the administration of Richard M. Nixon. The Kennedy Center was meant to be for all Americans, a place where we could all come together in celebration of the arts. Politics have never affected the presentation of thousands of shows and the display of extraordinary visual arts.'However, in recent weeks we have sadly seen decades of Kennedy Center neutrality be destroyed. The recent purge by the Trump Administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center flies in the face of everything this national cultural center represents. This spirit of nonpartisanship ended on February 7, 2025, with the firing of Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter, the Chairman of the Board David Rubenstein, numerous other Kennedy Center board members, and the cancellation of important programming. These actions bring a new spirit of partisanship to the national treasure that is the Kennedy Center.'Given these recent actions, our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center. Therefore, we have cancelled the third engagement of Hamilton at the Kennedy Center, originally scheduled for March 3-April 26, 2026.'Hamilton was proudly performed at the Kennedy Center in 2018 during the first Trump administration. We are not acting against his administration, but against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center as a result of his recent takeover.'Our cancellation is also a business decision. Hamilton is a large and global production, and it would simply be financially and personally devastating to the hundreds of employees of Hamilton if the new leadership of the Kennedy Center suddenly cancelled or re-negotiated our engagement. The actions of the new Chairman of the Board in recent weeks demonstrate that contracts and previous agreements simply cannot be trusted. This is sad, because basic integrity and the rule of law have long been great American principles that help serve as a foundation for our Nation.'I have personally loved the Kennedy Center since touring it as a seventh grader in 1977 along with the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. I watched the first Kennedy Center Honors in 1978. Regardless of the political climate, I have always felt at home at The Kennedy Center, and I am grateful for every person who has spent the last 50 years making it a beacon of nonpartisanship and celebration. But we cannot presently support an institution that has been forced by external forces to betray its mission as a national cultural center that fosters the free expression of art in The United States of America.'
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