Wicked composer latest to cancel Kennedy Center gig after Trump name change

The composer of the musical Wicked has said he will not appear at the Kennedy Center after its board voted to include US President Donald Trump’s name in the name of the venue.

Stephen Schwartz said in a statement that appearing at the centre “has now become an ideological statement”, adding: “As long as that remains the case, I will not appear there.”

But Richard Grenell, the center’s president, wrote on X that the reports of him pulling out of a gala in May were “totally bogus” and that he had never been signed to attend.

The Oscar and Grammy-award winning composer is the latest artist to say they will no longer appear at the national cultural institution over the recent changes.

Schwartz told the BBC that at the end of 2024 he was asked by the artistic director of the Washington National Opera to participate in the May event with them.

He said that he had agreed, but that he had received little communication since last February and assumed it was no longer taking place.

The composer explained that, on Thursday, he was contacted by a reporter saying that the gala was announced on the Kennedy Center schedule and asking if he would be participating.

He had been listed on the centre’s website as appearing in the gala, but this was removed from the website on Friday afternoon, according to CNN.

“The Kennedy Center was founded to be an apolitical home for free artistic expression for artists of all nationalities and ideologies,” Schwartz, 77, said.

“It is no longer apolitical, and appearing there has now become an ideological statement. As long as that remains the case, I will not appear there.”

But Mr Grennell hit back: “The Stephen Schwartz reports are totally bogus. Shame on the woke high school reporters repeating it.

“He was never signed and I’ve never had a single conversation on him since arriving.

“He himself said last February he hadn’t heard anything on it.”

Two musical acts cancelled their appearances at the centre earlier this week.

The Cookers, a veteran jazz band, said they cancelled two New Year’s Eve shows. The group did not mention Trump or the Kennedy Center in a statement, but said the decision had “come together very quickly”.

Another group, Doug Varone and Dancers, said they would not perform two shows in April because of the name change, adding: “We can no longer permit ourselves nor ask our audiences to step inside this once great institution.”

Mr Grenell called the cancellations “a form of derangement syndrome”.

Prior to them, jazz percussionist Chuck Redd called off a Christmas Eve gig he had hosted annually since 2006 at the centre over the name change.

Mr Grenell called it a “political stunt” and threatened to seek $1m (£740,000) in damages.

The Kennedy Center’s board, which Trump filled with allies, voted to rename the institution the Donald J Trump and the John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in December. New signage appeared on the building’s exterior the following day.

Some US lawmakers and legal scholars have argued that, because the centre was named in a 1964 law, Congress must have a say on any name change.

Some members of President John F Kennedy’s family have denounced the move. The centre was named in Kennedy’s memory shortly after his assassination.

Joe Kennedy III, a former US House of Representatives member and grandnephew of the late president, said the venue was “a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law”.

“It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says,” he added.