Tony winner Harvey Fierstein—whose work includes Kinky Boots, La Cage aux Folles, Hairspray, and more—has taken to Instagram to share his response to President Donald Trump's takeover as chairman of the Kennedy Center's board.
Trump previously vowed to ban drag shows at the institution, and Fierstein said that would include his own shows.
"I have been in the struggle for our civil rights for more than 50 years only to watch them snatched away by a man who actually couldn't care less," Fierstein wrote. "This is how freedom ENDS! Trump may have declared 'woke' as dead in America. We must prove him wrong."
Richard Grenell, who Trump appointed to be Kennedy Center's president, responded to Fierstein's post via X, stating that Fierstein's shows have not been banned from the organization's programming and that he should "come do Hairspray or La Cage here at the Kennedy Center."
Fierstein declined: "Although Trump and his army of culturally starved followers would benefit greatly from seeing [La Cage aux Folles]," he wrote, "with Trump's ban on drag, [there] is no way La Cage could be produced there."
This week, Trump also visited Kennedy Center for the first time since his takeover (which included a complete overhaul of the D.C. organization's board, now made up entirely of his appointees). The New York Times reports that Trump complained the Kennedy Center honors had been celebrating "radical left lunatics," suggesting a revision of the awards (and his intent to host the ceremony). He also expressed his affinity for Cats, Phantom of the Opera, performer Betty Buckley, and his desire to bring Broadway shows to the institution. He also commented that he "never liked Hamilton very much" after the show's producers pulled the production from the Kennedy Center.
Another board member told the Times that the organization would mount shows not affiliated with Actors' Equity, claiming the change "opens [the Kennedy Center] up for a whole bunch of more options as well as a lot more money."
It remains to be seen how the Kennedy Center plans on attracting Broadway tours without the use of Equity actors, which is an industry standard. Equity has previously told Playbill that "The union intends to fully enforce our contracts with The Kennedy Center. Equity reminds its members that if they experience any difficulty with their contracts at the Kennedy Center, they should reach out to their business reps immediately.”
As previously reported, several productions have been cancelled as a result of the new Kennedy Center leadership, including the planned 2026 run of Hamilton, Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway production of Eureka Day, an event featuring the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C. and the National Symphony Orchestra, and a planned tour of the children's musical Finn (which was recently given a concert performance featuring Broadway stars). A number of artists have also pulled their shows from the institution, including Melissa Errico, Issa Rae, and Rhiannon Giddens.
