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Friday, March 28, 2025
Creators Pull FELLOW TRAVELERS Opera From Kennedy Center Lineup Amid Trump Takeover
www.broadwayworld.com: The New York Times reports that the Kennedy Center's Washington National Opera and National Symphony Orchestra 2025/2626 seasons, the first since President Trump assumed leadership of the institution, will continue largely as planned, but one major work will not appear.
2 comments:
Ellie Yonchak
said...
This is a bit of a difficult situation for me to vocalize my thoughts about, in that I can see just as many reasons why they should have stayed, as why it was right to leave. On one hand, as an artist, I completely understand and agree with the sentiment of not wanting people who disagree with the meaning behind your artwork to go anywhere near contributing to the creation of that artwork. Especially due to the nature of this show’s topic, I imagine it would be difficult to create when you're always living in that shadow of doing something wrong. but I also wonder if there is something to be said for doing it anyway, out of stubbornness, to take their money, and make art that might change someone's mind. and if they cancel you, then they cancel you. You still would have taken some of their money from the salary they paid you.
This is really unfortunate to hear. Trump taking over the Kennedy center has been on my mind for a while. The way a theatre so renowned and sought after had its working reputation gutted overnight because of the current administration is so disappointing. I am a huge fellow travelers fan and was really looking forward to this opera coming to the Kennedy center. I wonder to what degree the administrations presence impact them drawing out. If they faced any pressure to change the story or experienced pushback from the theatre administration. It is incredibly sad to see art be stifled because of the pressure of the political scene, and the fact that this opera was removed- which I'm certain certain people are happy about- is a worrying precedent. I wish it had stayed and performed despite the administration change, but I don't pretend to understand the behind the scenes pressure. It is deeply unfortunate that we even have to have this conversation at all.
2 comments:
This is a bit of a difficult situation for me to vocalize my thoughts about, in that I can see just as many reasons why they should have stayed, as why it was right to leave. On one hand, as an artist, I completely understand and agree with the sentiment of not wanting people who disagree with the meaning behind your artwork to go anywhere near contributing to the creation of that artwork. Especially due to the nature of this show’s topic, I imagine it would be difficult to create when you're always living in that shadow of doing something wrong. but I also wonder if there is something to be said for doing it anyway, out of stubbornness, to take their money, and make art that might change someone's mind. and if they cancel you, then they cancel you. You still would have taken some of their money from the salary they paid you.
This is really unfortunate to hear. Trump taking over the Kennedy center has been on my mind for a while. The way a theatre so renowned and sought after had its working reputation gutted overnight because of the current administration is so disappointing. I am a huge fellow travelers fan and was really looking forward to this opera coming to the Kennedy center. I wonder to what degree the administrations presence impact them drawing out. If they faced any pressure to change the story or experienced pushback from the theatre administration. It is incredibly sad to see art be stifled because of the pressure of the political scene, and the fact that this opera was removed- which I'm certain certain people are happy about- is a worrying precedent. I wish it had stayed and performed despite the administration change, but I don't pretend to understand the behind the scenes pressure. It is deeply unfortunate that we even have to have this conversation at all.
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