Anyway! The 90 minute concert was called “Love Is Love” and featured Hamilton alum Javier Muñoz singing “Satisfied,” Beth Malone (who originated the role of Alison Bechdel in Fun Home) singing “An Old-Fashioned Love Story” from Andrew Lippa’s off-Broadway musical The Wild Party, and Lippa himself performing a song from his oratorio I Am Harvey Milk with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington.
Also too, Tony Award winner Brandon Uranowitz, who played Mendel Weisenbachfeld in the 2016 revival of William Finn’s Falsettos sang “What More Can I Say?” from that show. Good choice, but not as good as if he had done Finn’s “Republicans.” Because that would have been perfection.
The evening ended, appropriately, with a rendition of “One Day More” from Les Miserables, sung by performers waving Pride flags, with a few lyrical changes like “Why is this his favorite show?” added in for effect.
The event was hosted by Senator John Hickenlooper of Colorado, in collaboration with Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Brian Schatz of Hawaii. Members of Congress are allowed to rent out the Kennedy Center, and they chose this week because June is Pride Month (not that they told Ric Grenell that).
Via The New York Times:
“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. 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.”
Ric Grenell, himself a gay man, was displeased! So displeased that he wrote a long-ass response on Xitter, in which he once again aired his Hamilton-related grievances.
“I'm disappointed to learn that Hamilton Producer [Jeffrey Seller] and Hamilton Creator [Lin-Manuel Miranda] are working with Democratic Senators and the New York Times to boycott the Kennedy Center, refusing to perform for audience members who don't share their personal politics, and cosplay as victims of intolerance.”
. . .
= new reply since forum marked as read