Kennedy Center's upcoming staging of Legally Blonde The Musical, part of its Broadway Center Stage series, has become the latest event to be postponed, but organizers are stressing that this programming change is not due to leadership changes. Since taking office, President Trump has taken an unusual amount of interest in the Washington, D.C. arts venue, banning so-called "woke" performances involving LGBTQIA+ themes and drag.
The production was to be directed by Matt DiCarlo and run June 6–15 in the institution's Eisenhower Theatre.
“I am disappointed to announce that the upcoming Broadway Center Stage production of Legally Blonde is being postponed to a future date," reads a statement from Broadway Center Stage Artistic Director and Executive Producer Jeffrey Finn. "To be clear, this is not a Kennedy Center cancellation, and this is not due to any one person or persons involved with the show. Broadway Center Stage will continue our mission to deliver first class productions for our loyal patrons, as well as the Broadway creatives, casts, crew, and amazing Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra musicians. I sincerely look forward to bringing this vibrant show to life in the near future."
Ticket holders will be contacted with options beginning March 31.
The Kennedy Center's Broadway Center Stage series presents original stagings of Broadway musicals. The series' 2024 programming included runs of tick, tick...BOOM!; Bye Bye Birdie; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; and Nine. Earlier this year, the series gave a world premiere to a stage adaptation of streaming series Schmigadoon! Their revival of Monty Python's Spamalot transferred to Broadway in 2023.
Trump removed much of the venue's board of directors last month and replaced them with loyalists who then made him chair of the organization. Several planned productions and events were canceled in the wake of the switch over, seemingly over new Trump-originating content guidelines banning drag performances, free gender expression, and anything relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The venue's new leadership has not been forthcoming with the exact guidelines governing these sudden changes, though Trump has written in social media posts that he wanted to rid the venue of "woke" programming, without defining that word or specifying what previous Kennedy Center presentations he found objectionable. The move has been wholly unprecedented in the history of the previously bipartisan venue.
Earlier March 26, it was reported that the venue has also disbanded its Social Impact team, the group tasked with diversifying the institution's audience.
