Every Moment Has A Song

(via The Handbasket) by Marisa Kabas

Tonight at the Kennedy Center, legendary alternative rock band Guster took the stage to perform with the National Symphony Orchestra. But the audience got an extra surprise when the band brought on part of the cast of Finn—a children’s musical whose run at the center was recently canceled because of the new presidential administration’s vicious crackdown on the arts—to help them perform their song Hard Times.

What used to be one of the most prestigious venues in the nation has fallen from grace since Donald Trump’s inauguration and subsequent dismantling of the cultural institution’s board of directors—and the radical overhaul has led to cancelled performances and fear about what it means to perform at the center in its current iteration. 

The cancellation of Finn’s run at the center was announced shortly after Trump installed a team of loyalists to the board, including Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, and Andrea Wynn, the wife of billionaire Steve Wynn.

Read more: https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/guster-finn-kennedy-center

(via Rolling Stone) by Daniel Kreps

Guster performed Friday night at the Kennedy Center, with the band using their show to stage a protest of sorts amid the Trump administration’s sweeping changes at the historic Washington, D.C. venue.

During the concert, Guster brought out the cast of Finn – an LGBTQ+ musical with trans themes whose own Kennedy Center performances were canceled after Trump named himself chairman – to perform with the band and the National Symphony Orchestra.

“I have a friend named Michael who wrote the songs for a musical called Finn,” singer Ryan Fisher told the audience (via The Handbasket). “In the before times they were booked to play here at the Kennedy Center. But as all of you know, things happened, and the show is no longer presenting here. As the new administration has made abundantly clear, Finn‘s themes of inclusivity, love, and self-acceptance aren’t going to be welcome in this building while they are in control.”

Fisher continued, “So tonight our band is here to say our stage is your stage. We are your allies, we stand with the LGBTQ community, and we want you to sing with us. Please welcome the cast of Finn and composer Michael Kooman. They belong here.”

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/at-kennedy-center-guster-perform-with-cast-of-lgbtq-musical-canceled-by-trump-takeover/ar-AA1BUxg0?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=fb735e7b084a493682108c7ba104ac0d&ei=12

Editor’s note: “singer Ryan Fisher” should be “Ryan Miller”.