\n<\/p>\n
“There’s no way I would set foot in it now,” said the Oscar-winner, who was set to host an event there in May<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\tStephen Schwartz, the celebrated Oscar-winning composer behind Wicked<\/a> <\/em>and other hit musicals, is the latest artist to pull out<\/a> of a scheduled appearance at the Kennedy Center<\/a> in protest of Donald Trump\u2019s takeover<\/a> of the institution and its legally dubious<\/a> name change<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tSchwartz was set to host the Washington National Opera Gala at the Kennedy Center on May 16, but in an email sent to Newsday<\/a><\/em>, said the Center \u201cno longer represents the apolitical place for free artistic expression it was founded to be.\u201d He added: \u201cThere\u2019s no way I would set foot in it now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tMany artists have canceled shows at the Kennedy over the past year. The first round was in protest of Trump\u2019s moves in early 2025 to gut the Center\u2019s board, fill it with cronies, and install himself as chairman. Then, at the end of the last year, another group of artists nixed shows after Trump\u2019s board unanimously voted to change the institution\u2019s name to the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tCancellations following the name change included the Kennedy Center\u2019s annual Christmas Eve Jazz Jam<\/a>, as well as shows by the New York Dance Company, the jazz band the Cookers, jazz musician Wayne Tucker, and folk singer Kristy Lee. In explaining his decision, musician Chuck Redd, who\u2019s led the Christmas Eve Jazz Jam since 2006, said, \u201cWhen I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert.<\/p>\n