Latest news with #PrideConcert
Fox News
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Democratic senators host Pride concert at Kennedy Center to protest Trump takeover
Five Democratic senators joined forces with a "Hamilton" producer to stage a gay pride concert on Monday night in protest of President Donald Trump's takeover of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The New York Times reported that Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado along with Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen, Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren rented the Justice Forum, a lecture hall within the Kennedy Center, for a 90-minute concert expected to feature "gay characters, gay culture, gay music and gay pride." "What's happening in the world is deeply concerning, but even in our darkest hours, we must continue to seek out the light," Hickenlooper said in a statement. "The L.G.B.T.Q. community has long embodied this resilience, maintaining joy and creativity in the face of adversity." The concert will be produced by Jeffrey Seller, the lead producer of "Hamilton" who described how he was asked to take part in "guerrilla theater" to the New York Times. "This is our way of reoccupying the Kennedy Center," Seller said. "This is a form of saying, 'We are here, we exist, and you can't ignore us.' This is a protest, and a political act." Seller and "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda previously canceled a planned production of the popular rap musical at the Kennedy Center for 2026 in protest of the Trump administration. The concert will feature several Broadway artists as well as the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, whose May performance at the Kennedy Center was canceled. Fox News Digital was told, however, that the decision came before the center's leadership change due to lack of ticket sales rather than politics. Fox News Digital reached out to the Kennedy Center and the five Democratic senators' offices for comment. In February, Trump fired several Kennedy Center board members, including the president and chairman, and replaced them with pro-Trump figures, who then named the president as chairman. Trump later appointed Richard Grenell, who was the first openly gay Cabinet member after serving the first Trump administration, as president and interim executive director.
San Francisco Chronicle
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Baritone Brian Mulligan on coming out with San Francisco Opera in style and song
For two decades, baritone Brian Mulligan has performed on many of the world's great stages, but his heart belongs to San Francisco. Now, in a full-circle moment, the internationally acclaimed singer returns to make history as one of the featured soloists in San Francisco Opera's first-ever Pride Concert, set for Friday, June 27, at the War Memorial Opera House. 'San Francisco Opera is unquestionably the most important opera company in my life,' Mulligan, 46, told the Chronicle by phone from his native town of Endicott in upstate New York. 'They have taken chances on me and given me opportunities that no place else in the world has done. I consider it my home opera company.' While the baritone snagged his first professional role at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 2003 when still a student at the Juilliard School, he's truly come into his own in San Francisco. Since making his debut at the War Memorial in 2008's ' La Bohème,' he's appeared there nearly two dozen times, singing everything from the title characters in ' Sweeney Todd ' and ' Nixon in China ' to a series of Wagner roles (mostly recently Telramund in 2023's ' Lohengrin '). He is set to return in October to sing the role of Amfortas in a new production of Wagner's 'Parsifal.' 'I've had so many firsts in San Francisco,' he recalled fondly, listing his first major Verdi role as Count Anckarström in 2014's 'Un Ballo in Maschera' among them. 'It's incredible to go back and see people, faces who know me and have helped me over the years to deliver performance after performance.' For the Pride Concert, Mulligan is slated to be joined by a few other San Francisco Opera favorites, mezzo-sopranos Jamie Barton and Nikola Printz, for a program featuring tunes by Harold Arlen and Jerry Herman, among others, as well as operatic fare by Tchaikovsky and Camille Saint-Saëns. Music Director Eun Sun Kim will share conducting duties with Robert Mollicone, while drag queen Sapphira Cristál serves as emcee. Mulligan spoke to the Chronicle about Pride and his passion for the Opera ahead of the upcoming concert. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Q: On the cusp of the city's 55th Pride Celebration, the San Francisco Opera is presenting its very first Pride Concert. What does that milestone mean to you? There was a long time (when) I felt my sexuality was a liability as an opera singer. Because almost all of the roles I play are straight people, being gay isn't exactly a good calling card. (But) over the years, I've proven myself as an actor. That's what being an opera singer is all about — portraying somebody else. Q: You've said that one of the reasons you leaned into opera growing up was because you were gay. Could you please elaborate on that? A: I started taking voice lessons when I was 17, and at that age, I didn't know or understand my sexuality. I knew that I was different, and (by) taking a step toward opera, which was also different, I was establishing my otherness — because most people don't know or understand anything about opera. Q: Fast-forward a few decades to this upcoming Pride Concert. Among the tunes you're preparing to sing are 'You Take My Breath Away,' Freddie Mercury's 1976 hit with Queen, as well as the aria 'I love you, dear' from Tchaikovsky's 'The Queen of Spades.' Did you make the selections? A: I had a hand in choosing the songs, but they were largely suggested by (the company). They explained that they were trying to highlight gay composers, iconic gay moments in opera and theater. (As) with any kind of recital program, it's about the order that you sing the pieces in. I'm starting with the Tchaikovsky; that will be most technically challenging because it's opera. After that, we'll move to the standard stuff. Q: Your 2022 solo CD, 'Alburnum,' features works by Mason Bates, Missy Mazzoli and Gregory Spears. You've also sung in contemporary operas, including John Adams' 'Nixon in China.' What is your attraction to new music? A: I often say to people, 'The greatest music may not have been composed yet.' There's a lot of phenomenal music that's been composed, but I have to believe that there's music that we don't know about yet. I really believe that one of the biggest draws for me in performing contemporary music is (that) often, it's written in English. I communicate best in English because it can (sometimes) be a struggle in other languages. No matter how good I get at German, French or Italian, I'm most powerful as a communicator in English. Q: As is the case with most successful opera singers today, your travel schedule is something akin to a rock star's. In the last few weeks, you were in Leipzig, Germany, before which you made your debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Where do you go to rejuvenate, and how do you keep it together on the road? A: Because I'm working more than 85% of the year, a few years ago I moved back to upstate New York, where my entire immediate and extended family lives — and I actually get to see them. So I come home to the absolute country. It's quiet. This morning, I opened the windows and I could hear all of the birds. It's incredible. I love living here. I have a small Norwich Terrier, Beauregard, who just turned 7, but he's still a puppy in many ways. He has a European passport, and he's been traveling with me everywhere — except Asia or the U.K. — since he was a baby, so he's completely used to it. I've found now that my life is centered around him, and wherever I go, I make sure it's near a place that's beautiful where we can walk. … He's improved my life, and since I need to (rest my voice) when I'm not performing, it's all silence with him. A: It's funny because I was thinking maybe I should wear some kind of glittery, sparkly, crazy Pride thing. But as time went on and I thought about it, Pride is actually more about being yourself and just owning who you are, and who I am is a simple tux kind of guy. I'm wearing a black tux with pink accessories — a pink tux shirt for part of the show and a pink pocket square.
