'Hamilton' Cancels Kennedy Center Run Over Trump's Takeover [View all]

Source: New York Times

'Hamilton' Cancels Kennedy Center Run Over Trump's Takeover

"We're not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center," said its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda.


Lin-Manuel Miranda onstage in colonial-era clothes in a performance of "Hamilton," surrounded by dancers.

"Hamilton" canceled plans to perform at the Kennedy Center next year as part of the institution's celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

By Michael Paulson
March 5, 2025
Updated 6:18 p.m. ET

"Hamilton," the musical theater juggernaut about the birth of American democracy, is canceling plans to perform next year at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, citing President Trump's moves to impose his ideological and cultural values on the long-cherished venue.

The musical had been slated to be part of the Kennedy Center's celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. But after Mr. Trump ousted the Democratic members from the center's once-bipartisan board, became its chairman and replaced its president, "Hamilton" decided not to come.

"This latest action by Trump means it's not the Kennedy Center as we knew it," the show's creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, said in a joint interview on Wednesday with its lead producer, Jeffrey Seller. "The Kennedy Center was not created in this spirit, and we're not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center. We're just not going to be part of it." ... Mr. Seller said the "Hamilton" team believed that Mr. Trump "took away our national arts center for all of us."

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But next season's programming could be at risk. Meredith Blair, the president and chief executive of the Booking Group, which arranges tours for Broadway shows, said several shows that had planned to perform at the Kennedy Center next season but had not yet publicly announced those plans are now quietly canceling.

Michael Paulson is the theater reporter for The Times. More about Michael Paulson
https://www.nytimes.com/by/michael-paulson

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/theater/hamilton-kennedy-center-trump-miranda.html