General Discussion

erronis

(20,288 posts) Tue Jun 24, 2025, 01:58 PM 22 hrs ago

Ric Grenell Will Not Throw Away His Shot To Take A Shot At 'Hamilton' -- Wonkette

https://www.wonkette.com/p/ric-grenell-will-not-throw-away-his
Robyn Pennacchia

The Kennedy Center is not doing great. The best thing they’ve got at the moment is the touring production of Les Miserables — which I love, but which anyone anywhere near a medium-sized city can see at least once a year. Other than that, they’ve got performances from several acts that aren’t even well-known enough to have Wikipedia pages, a Dolly Parton concert with no Dolly Parton …

National Symphony Orchestra Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony Concert Hall Join us for an unforgettable multimedia experience featuring Dolly on screen—a vivid, visual-musical journey through the music, life, and legacy of the Southern icon. Accompanied by guest vocalists and musicians, Steven Reineke conducts new and innovative orchestrations by David Hamilton of Dolly’s hit songs, including “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” and “I Will Always Love You,” plus her own personal favorites. Please note: Dolly Parton does not perform in person at this concert.

And The Lion King. Not the stage musical. The movie from 1994. Probably because a certain someone finds a certain song especially relatable.

However, last night, there was a rather impressive performance from live human people we’ve actually heard of before — because a group of Senate Democrats rented out the space for a Pride event that they didn’t tell Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell was going to be a Pride event, and which they definitely didn’t tell him was going to be produced by Jeffrey Seller, who produced Hamilton.

As you may recall, Ric Grenell is very, very upset at Seller and Lin-Manuel Miranda for canceling a planned 2026 run at the formerly politically neutral Kennedy Center, just because Trump purged almost the entire board and replaced them with random Republicans who would be loyal to him, and also announced that drag shows would be barred and nothing would be “woke.”

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.

. . .

So much good material (materiel?) in this Wonkette post. Take the time to enjoy.

1 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Ric Grenell Will Not Throw Away His Shot To Take A Shot At 'Hamilton' -- Wonkette (Original Post) erronis 22 hrs ago OP

More from the Wonkette post: erronis 21 hrs ago #1

erronis

(20,288 posts)

1. More from the Wonkette post:

Reply to erronis (Original post)

Tue Jun 24, 2025, 02:10 PM

21 hrs ago

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.”

. . .

Reply to this discussion