'Hamilton' producer cancels musical's upcoming Kennedy Center run after Trump takeover

The announcement follows Trump replacing the center's board members and new ones electing him chairman

Published: March 6, 2025 8:41am

The lead producer of the Broadway musical "Hamilton" has canceled the show's upcoming performances at the John F. Kennedy Center, following President Trump effectively taking over the landmark Washington, D.C., cultural center.  

The announcement follows Trump replacing the center's board members and new ones electing him chairman. He also named political ally Ric Grenell as the center's interim executive director.

"Given these recent actions, our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center," said producer Jeffrey Seller said in a statement.

Tickets for the performances schedule for March 3 to April 26 of next year had not gone on sale yet.

In a lengthy X post, Seller said not bringing the hit musical to the center for a third time was based "the spirit of partisanship [having] ended" when Chairwoman Deborah Rutter was fired but was also a "business decision."

"Our cancellation is also a business decision," he said. "Hamilton is a large and global production, and it would simply be financially and personally devastating to the hundreds of employees of Hamilton if the new leadership of the Kennedy Center suddenly cancelled or re-negotiated our engagement."

Hamilton is a musical that came out in 2015 and was written by Lin Manuel-Miranda based on the founding fathers of the U.S., specifically Alexander Hamilton.

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