Joey Nofli, Entertainment Weekly; Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz is latest star to cancel Kennedy Center event over outrage at Trump takeover
"Another artist has canceled a Kennedy Center appearance over outrage at President Donald Trump's takeover of the venue, with Wickedcomposer Stephen Schwartz backing out of a planned opera event.
As Trump continues to overhaul the Kennedy Center — a performing arts space and legally protected memorial constructed in honor of President John F. Kennedy — in his own name, Schwartz said Thursday in an email to Newsday that he'll no longer host the Washington National Opera Gala on May 16.
Schwartz told the outlet that the center "no longer represents the apolitical place for free artistic expression it was founded to be," with his statement coming after Trump's team erected text bearing his name next to Kennedy's on the exterior of the Washington, D.C., structure."
