Stephen Schwartz, the songwriter behind classic musicals from “Godspell” to “Wicked,” has revealed he will not be taking part in a program devoted to spotlighting him at the Kennedy Center on May 16.
“It no longer represents the apolitical place for free artistic expression it was founded to be,” Schwartz said in an email sent to Newsday by his assistant. “There’s no way I would set foot in it now.”
The evening is still advertised on the website of the D.C. institution, but Schwartz told Newsday he has not heard anything about it since last February, so assumed it had been canceled amid the changes with the Trump administration’s takeover of the center. Even if the show were scheduled to go on, he said, he would decline to attend on principle.
“Last year, way before the change of Board and name of the Kennedy Center, I was invited by (director) Francesca Zambello to be part of a Washington National Opera event on May 16, 2026,” Schwartz said in the email sent to Newsday. “But I’ve heard nothing about it since February 2025, so I have assumed it’s no longer happening. I can’t imagine Francesca continuing under the current circumstances. If it is happening, of course I will not be part of it.”
Schwartz joins a growing list of artists and performers who have pulled out of appearances scheduled for the venue, including a recent torrent who pulled out after the largely Trump-installed board voted to add the current president’s name atop John F. Kennedy’s, with no legal basis for renaming a national monument.
The pullout by Schwartz has symbolic value: He was the co-writer of the program that opened the Kennedy Center back in 1971, “Mass,” a collaboration with Leonard Bernstein.
Schwartz was one of very few big-name figures left who had a performance scheduled at the Kennedy Center in 2026. Variety scanned the list of events on the ticketing page for the venue, and Renee Fleming and Tyrese are among the only celebrities on the docket. Otherwise, the programming at this point is mostly devoted to orchestral attractions and other institutional fare, along with children’s programming, a recurring comedy show and touring musicals. A few less famous jazz and Americana performances dot the schedule.
Among the most recent cancellations listed is a set of performances by the Asian comedy troupe “Asian AF,” listed as “canceled” on the Kennedy Center site although the shows still appear on the comedy group’s own website.
variety.com
#Stephen #Schwartz #Pulls #Kennedy #Centers #Lineup
