Patti LuPone has spoken out against President Donald Trump’s looming plans for the Kennedy Center, calling for the public to band together in an effort to halt his proposed alterations to the building’s name and architecture.
On Monday, following the acclaimed actress and singer’s two-hour show at Carnegie Hall in New York City, LuPone took time to share her thoughts regarding the president’s recent declarations about the Washington, D.C., landmark. Addressing the crowd, she called for solidarity in a time of perceived sociopolitical crisis.
“This is now about the Kennedy Center. It’s time for us — it’s over time for us! — to rise up and speak,” she said emphatically, urging the audience to “get the information out” that Trump “cannot! cannot! cannot! touch the Kennedy Center!”
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Visibly impassioned, LuPone apologized for the tone of her message but remained adamant about the importance of American citizens ensuring that the Kennedy Center is not obstructed.
“I’m sorry, but I’m so mad,” the famed performer continued. “This actually strikes close to home because art is the soul of the nation. And think about it — when was the last time you heard the words ‘art’ and ‘culture’ in a conversation in this country? We have to speak up again. We have to elevate it, and one of the ways we’re going to elevate it is to keep the buildings standing.”
Trump, whose wish to rename the Kennedy Center “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts” was granted via a vote by presidentially appointed board members late last year, recently announced that the Kennedy Center will close for two years to undergo renovations.
“I’m not ripping it down,” Trump told reporters Monday. “I’ll be using the steel. So we’re using the structure, we’re using some of the marble, and some of the marble comes down.”
The news has garnered significant backlash, as detractors fear the closure is a ploy by Trump to demolish the Kennedy Center, similar to the White House’s East Wing, which was destroyed to make way for a new ballroom.
Trump’s move to close the Kennedy Center comes amid widespread cancellations by artists previously scheduled to perform at the national cultural center. A slew of artists have pulled out of their scheduled appearances in protest against Trump.
From Rolling Stone US
