Five Democratic senators staged a gay pride concert at a small theater at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Monday night as a form of symbolic protest against President Trump’s takeover of the institution.
The event, which was held before an invited audience, featured performances by Broadway artists including Javier Muñoz, a “Hamilton” alum who sang “Satisfied” from the hit musical. Many of the songs and monologues were rife with L.G.B.T. themes, including one penned by Harvey Fierstein.
Other performances included Brandon Uranowitz’s singing “What More Can I Say?” from “Falsettos,” and Beth Malone’s rendition of “An Old-Fashioned Love Story” from “The Wild Party.” That song’s composer, Andrew Lippa, performed a song from his oratorio “I Am Harvey Milk” alongside the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington.
The 90-minute concert was called “Love Is Love,” a slogan used by the gay rights movement and quoted by the “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda when his show won at the Tony Awards in 2016. It was produced by Jeffrey Seller, the lead producer of “Hamilton,” who recently canceled a planned 2026 run of the musical at the Kennedy Center, saying he did not want to support Mr. Trump’s vision for the venue.
“What’s happening in the world is deeply concerning, but even in our darkest hours, we must continue to seek out the light,” Senator John Hickenlooper of Colorado, who hosted the concert, said in a statement. “The L.G.B.T.Q. community has long embodied this resilience, maintaining joy and creativity in the face of adversity.”
Mr. Trump took over the Kennedy Center in February after purging its previously bipartisan board of Democratic appointees and replacing them with his allies. He denounced its programming as too “wokey” and promised to usher in a “Golden Age in Arts and Culture.”
The senators, who exercised a prerogative extended to members of Congress to rent space in the center, chose this week for the event because June has long been when the gay community has celebrated Pride Month. They rented the Justice Forum, a 144-seat lecture hall in the Reach, part of a recent Kennedy Center expansion project.
Mr. Trump, in a departure from previous presidents, has not acknowledged Pride Month, and some of his actions in recent months have prompted concern in the L.G.B.T.Q. community. Since his takeover of the center, several groups have canceled events there, saying they no longer feel welcome.
Richard Grenell, whom Mr. Trump installed as president of the Kennedy Center, has defended the center’s approach and rejected the idea that it has shown antipathy toward L.G.B.T.Q. groups. Mr. Grenell, one of the most prominent gay appointees serving in the Trump administration, has accused the left of intolerance and expressed dismay about Pride celebrations in general.
In a news conference before the concert, Mr. Hickenlooper said that he had spoken with Mr. Grenell on the phone in the afternoon, describing him as “agitated” but not “unreasonable.”
“He did say right at the beginning, ‘Well, we’re not going to cancel it,’” Mr. Hickenlooper said. “So it didn’t go perfectly. But I do think this is where it belongs. We had a backup theater in case things went awry, if it went off the tracks completely.”
In a statement posted on social media during the show, Mr. Grenell expressed disappointment about the event and said he had agreed to rent the space to Mr. Hickenlooper for what the senator’s team had called “a first annual talent show.”
“No one has been cancelled by the Kennedy Center,” Mr. Grenell wrote. “We welcome everyone who wants to celebrate the arts, including our compatriots on the other side of the political aisle. We especially welcome artists and audience members who come to the Kennedy Center not for partisan political pranks but to experience excellence in the performing arts.”
Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts joined Mr. Hickenlooper at the event, which was also hosted by Brian Schatz of Hawaii.
The show was directed by Seth Rudetsky and his husband, James Wesley Jackson, who have organized other concerts for social and political causes. (Mr. Rudetsky accompanied the performers on the piano during the show.)
Mr. Hickenlooper reached out to Mr. Seller a few weeks ago, asking if he wanted to engage in some “guerrilla theater,” Mr. Seller said in an interview before the event. It was meant, Mr. Seller said, “to celebrate gay characters, gay culture, gay music and gay pride.”
“This is our way of reoccupying the Kennedy Center,” he said. “This is a form of saying, ‘We are here, we exist and you can’t ignore us.’ This is a protest, and a political act.”
The show on Monday ended with a group rendition of “One Day More” from “Les Misérables,” one of Mr. Trump’s favorite shows and one that is currently running at the Kennedy Center. This version changed some of the lyrics to poke at the president, including the line, “Why is this his favorite show?” while some performers held rainbow-colored pride flags on the stage.
Sopan Deb is a Times reporter covering breaking news and culture.
Michael Paulson is the theater reporter for The Times.
Javier C. Hernández is a Times reporter who covers classical music, opera and dance in New York City and beyond.
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