Pack the House PURPLE
Voices in Protest of Kennedy Center Leadership are more Resonant than Boycotts
recent posts
- SHADOW NOTES: Rite of Spring WOKE Art Causes a RIOT
- OUR VALUES: Solidarity with Community- We Choose to Defend our Institutions.
- Our Community’s VOICES in a Chorus Of Protest are More Resonant than Propaganda Peddled by Those in Power
- The Kennedy Center Board Lacks Legal Authority to Change its Name
- Reporting on Ticket Sales Slump Gets Under Grenell’s Skin, Leads to Obfuscation
Category: Commentary
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What do you call a group of more than 4 Bassoons? Not Firewood. A Riot. Stravinsky only wrote for 2 bassoons, but he got a riot! When asked about the origins of The Rite of Spring, Stravinsky recalled in his book Conversations, “I had dreamed of a scene of pagan ritual in which a chosen…
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Standing up in support of artists, musicians, and union workers at the Kennedy Center can take multiple forms. On Saturday, Dec 20, 2025, we joined hands with a coalition of like-minded folks, including Hands off the Arts and the Kennedy Center United Arts Workers Union, to say loud and clear to the Kennedy Center Board,…
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Demystifying the finances of the Kennedy Center is a vast endeavor, namely because most of the Center’s finances and governance are shrouded in secrecy behind a big red velvet curtain. It doesn’t help matters that we are consistently being fed propaganda by Grenell and the Kennedy Center spokespeople. From them, we hear they are saving…
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In addition to literally white-washing the Kennedy Center, booking religious and far-right programming and causing ticket revenue to plummet, Ric and the Icks have added an extra elitism to the halls at the Kennedy Center. Perhaps in response to the nouveau rich gold-plated aesthetic of the gilded faux gold President, there are now red-carpet, velvet-rope,…
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November and December are the time of year that you can reliably start to hear the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, both at the Kennedy Center and in the halls of your local mall or on the 24-hour, 7-day-a-week holiday music channel on the radio. If it is the last week in November,…
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It seems on-brand that the Kennedy Center leadership both eliminated its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and also decided to start booking non-Equity theater productions in its halls. The Kennedy Center did not become the nation’s premier performing arts center by disregarding calls for equity in the workplace, much less by sidelining Equity actors, the…
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Shadow Notes are our Shadow Program Notes for Select Kennedy Center Productions, where we provide our spin on the performances at the Kennedy Center. In a nutshell: As they prepare for their marriage, Suzanna sings about avoiding the advances of her mistress’s husband- the count, while Figaro measures space for their wedding bed. Figaro and…
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Jamal Khashoggi Way leads to the Kennedy Center, where today the President of the United States gave a platform, usually reserved for artists, musicians, and dancers, to a murderer. The man, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, nicknamed “bonesaw prince,” was welcomed to the Kennedy Center’s “(blood) red carpet” for the US Saudi…
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At a time when the Kennedy Center is reeling from cratering financial losses due to Ric Grenell and the Board’s fiscal malpractice, they have added one more misstep to their mismanagement. The Washington Post just reported that the Center will bump two National Symphony Orchestra concerts in favor of the FIFA draw in early December. …
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Below is our Sign on Petition to be delivered to Ric Grenell and the Kennedy Center Board. Please sign on to show your support for Kennedy Center Musicians, Artists, and employees. Our voices in protest are more resonant than a boycott. Dear President Ric Grenell and Kennedy Center Board Members, WE ARE THE AUDIENCE, PATRONS,…