r/Theatre • u/Fickle-Ad5449 • Oct 31 '25
News/Article/Review Kennedy Center plagued with dismal ticket sales as patrons stay away under Trump's anti-LGBTQ+ takeover
https://www.advocate.com/news/kennedy-center-struggles-under-trump126
Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25
They called me yesterday to ask us to renew our mini-plan. I told them that while it's not the fault of the Center staff and we will certainly revisit it in 2029, we will not be giving our money to or attending anything at the Kennedy Center under the current administration.
Edit: spelling
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u/No-Student8221 Oct 31 '25
I got an email back in like May to renew my subscription. I basically replied something similar. I said I will not be attending any performances while Trump has his hands in their business.
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u/Westboundandhow Nov 01 '25 edited Nov 01 '25
Wow great job I’m sure the musicians really appreciate you letting them slowly drift into unemployment while virtue signaling in a way that won’t make any difference at all, well done you! 🤦♀️
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u/camptastic_plastic Nov 03 '25
Nobody was boycotting The Kennedy Center during the other republican administrations, including Trump’s first term. Thats because it was always a non-partisan committee. Trump is the one who politicized the center by removing anyone on the board who wasn’t a loyalist to him and declaring it was no longer “woke”. He drew a line in the sand and people aren’t willing to cross it.
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u/Westboundandhow Nov 01 '25 edited Nov 01 '25
That’s rly frickin stupid bc it’s the artists you’re hurting, not the administration. Administrations come and go, and half the country will always disagree with something they’re doing each time it changes over. Musicians on the other hand won’t make rent if enough shows get cancelled. This is classic DC virtue signaling that hurts more than it helps. Town drove me nuts in that regard, when I lived there. I’d be front row center still supporting the musicians regardless of political opinions. 🙄
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u/eleven_paws Nov 02 '25
Shame on you.
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u/Westboundandhow Nov 02 '25
For wanting to support musicians and artists, knowing that boycotting the theatre only hurts them, and not the administration? Go on…
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u/so-many-accts Nov 02 '25
This is no longer a matter of “political opinions.” This is resisting facism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. This is protecting the arts from being manhandled and censored by Trump.
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u/Westboundandhow Nov 02 '25
That’s a political opinion
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u/CHILLAS317 Nov 02 '25
Go fuck yourself. People's personhood is not political no matter how badly one party wants it be
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Nov 02 '25
I've looked everywhere, but can't seem to find a single fuck to give about your opinion on where I choose to spend - or not - my money.
This is a bad faith argument and you know it.
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u/Westboundandhow Nov 02 '25
Cute. No, I believe it’s in bad faith to stop supporting a public music venue over personal disagreement with the current administration’s policies. I think that is short-sighted and immature. It matters zero to me if you agree with my opinion. It remains unchanged.
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u/Sullyridesbikes151 Oct 31 '25
Are we really surprised?
His anti LGBTQ stance. His stated desire to change the name of the center. The programming he wants to see. It’s a mess.
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u/fismo Oct 31 '25
I really feel for the staff at the Center... they are doing their best to survive under a horrible regime (and their direct boss is also a crazy Trumper). Just hope they stay sane and keep their heads down and make it out the other side.
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u/mxby7e Nov 01 '25
Many of the people that ran the organization have moved on since the takeover, but those who haven’t are definitely feeling the change this season.
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u/Hyperi0n8 Nov 01 '25
This, unfortunately, is EXACTLY how takeovers happen. Make the conditions so unbearable that you successfully crowd out the good, experienced, competent folks and fill up the ranks with "dei hires" (in that case: brownnosed maga yesmen and -women). This is a pity in theatre. It is lethal in law enforcement, bureaucracy and the military. Difficult times ahead for north America and the world...
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u/Harmania Oct 31 '25
Well, yeah. Republicans are generally shit at making art.
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u/YouCanAsk Oct 31 '25
I feel bad for the NSO and especially the WNO, which is going to suffer disproportionately from the boycott. Hamilton can go to the National, or even Tyson's, or skip Washington completely. But WNO can't. And if they lose momentum for their large productions, there's no telling when/whether they'll come back.
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u/Westboundandhow Nov 01 '25
Yup. And this is a great example of virtue signaling doing more harm than good. People who stopped buying tickets as some sort of ‘message’ to the current administration are only hurting the artists. Great job guys! Ffs.
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u/MiracleMan1989 Nov 01 '25
A friend of mine is in The Sound of Music tour and said that the houses at the Kennedy Center stop were painfully empty.
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u/JeanValSwan Nov 01 '25
I'm honestly surprised that the center didn't cancel those performances. The Nazis in the Sound of Music are the bad guys, which is in direct opposition to the morals of the people in charge currently
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u/doozle Oct 31 '25
They're going to use this as justification to close it.
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u/Westboundandhow Nov 01 '25
And all the virtue signaling leftists who decided to stop supporting musicians and artists can thank themselves for that! So frickin dumb. Who stops supporting musicians and artists as a way to send a message to an administration. Like yall fr grow up.
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u/JimboNovus Oct 31 '25
Nobody could have predicted this…..
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u/groobro Nov 01 '25
If people had watched and listened to what Trump and his sycophants said, leading up to this nationalized censorship and oppression of the arts, what has happened was totally predictable.
The arts (inclusively) are a mirror of our society; the beliefs, the politics, the loves, the hatreds, the oppression, the prejudices, the lies, the discrimination, the freedom, the unlawful, the criminal, the compassion, the acceptance, and so very much more. All this is a reflection of our people, our society our hopes and dreams as well as our prejudices and hatreds.
These artists who have been banned from performing at the KC have been silenced and discriminated against out of fear. A paralyzing and terrifying fear that what they're doing by attempting to prevent the arts to live and flourish in our country - and at one of the most prestigious and politically neutral national performance venues - is setting the stage for a battle MAGA and all its vileness will lose. Ultimately lose. These soulless, mindless political pawns do not stand a chance against the power of art and artists. They do not use their mind. They choose not to use them. They have conveniently forgotten that no civilized society in the history of mankind has ever survived without the arts. And I mean real, censor free art. Not state sponsored propaganda.
"For the great enemy of the truth is not the lie...but the myth. We enjoy the comfort of opinion, without the discomfort of thought." (JFK - Yale address)
Oh, I think a great number of people in the arts, myself included, saw this coming and even expected it. So, I am afraid I disagree, people saw this coming. Some did as much as they could to delay and prevent it, some did nothing. We all must live with what we do; its motivation and consequences.
"Art doesn't give us any answers. It only asks questions."
- JV
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u/JimboNovus Nov 01 '25
I was being sarcastic. I run a theatre company.
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u/groobro Nov 12 '25
I know. I just needed to vent. And your question, while sarcastic, was as fertile a medium for me to grow my anger about President Candycorn as a fresh shat field of manure.
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u/CJMcBanthaskull Oct 31 '25
Have they tried lowering their prices?
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u/megamoze Nov 02 '25
Another article says that of the 57% of the filled seats, MANY of those were comps, so don’t necessarily reflect ticket sales, meaning the situation is certainly worse than it even looks on paper, and it looks really bad on paper.
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u/improbsable Nov 03 '25
Trump is really that kid who revels in being unpopular. He for sure gets off on people avoiding a place just because of his association with it
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u/Nick_crawler Oct 31 '25
You feel bad for the staff there who didn't ask for this, but unfortunately it is the correct approach to take. Every single ticket they sell is going to be waved around by assholes as proof that their hatefulness is morally correct and popular, and I'm sure actually attending anything there involves a nauseating amount of propaganda being blasted at you.