How Bad Will the Kennedy Center Honors Be- Page 5

[BJR]

Posted: 8/14/25 at 6:50pm

Matt Rogers said: "He has already publicly stated that he is getting a Kennedy Center honor next year. Hopefully it will be an “In Memoriam” honor."

Post of the day!

[John Adams]

Posted: 8/15/25 at 9:36am

communitytheatergal88 said: "It COULD be a fun show given the honorees. But Ifear instead it will just be the DT show [...]"

huh.

Would it be as much fun as watching Hitler's rise to power, which transpired in the exact same way as Donald Trump's?

Here's another "fun" exercise. How many of the following actions can be used in reference to Donald Trump (extra points if you can name the author and the source material)?

- He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.
- He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
- He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.
- He has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.
- He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.
- He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.
- He has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
- He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
- He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.
- He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.
- He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.
- He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
- He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
- For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:
- For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
- For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
- For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
- For depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:
- For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:
- For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:
- For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
- For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Author: John Hancock

Source: The Declaration of Independence

 

[communitytheatergal88]

Posted: 8/15/25 at 10:30am

John Adams said: "communitytheatergal88 said: "It COULD be a fun show given the honorees. But Ifear instead it will just be the DT show [...]"

huh.

Would it be as much fun as watching Hitler's rise to power, which transpired in theexact same wayas Donald Trump's?

Here's another "fun" exercise. How many of the following actions can be used in reference to Donald Trump (extra points if you can name the author and the source material)?

- He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.
- He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
- He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.
- He has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.
- He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.
- He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.
- He has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
- He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
- He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.
- He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.
- He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.
- He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
- He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
- For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:
- For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
- For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
- For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
- For depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:
- For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:
- For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:
- For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
- For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Author: John Hancock

Source: The Declaration of Independence

"

I think you misunderstood my post.  my point was that in another administration these honorees could potential make for a fun show.  But under DT it will be a total ****show and all about him.  

[Dom P]

Posted: 8/15/25 at 10:34am

communitytheatergal88 said: "John Adams said: "communitytheatergal88 said: "It COULD be a fun show given the honorees. But Ifear instead it will just be the DT show [...]"

huh.

Would it be as much fun as watching Hitler's rise to power, which transpired in theexact same wayas Donald Trump's?

Here's another "fun" exercise. How many of the following actions can be used in reference to Donald Trump (extra points if you can name the author and the source material)?

- He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.
- He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
- He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.
- He has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.
- He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.
- He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.
- He has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
- He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
- He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.
- He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.
- He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.
- He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
- He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
- For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:
- For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
- For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
- For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
- For depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:
- For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:
- For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:
- For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
- For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Author: John Hancock

Source: The Declaration of Independence

"Sounds like a bad,3rd rate,Bus and Truck production.

I think you misunderstood my post. my point was that in another administration these honorees could potential make for a fun show. But under DT it will be a total ****show and all about him."

 

[Dom P]

Posted: 8/15/25 at 10:39am

At least they aren't trying to sully the career of the Great Colm Wilkinson, who was in two of the Chairman's favorite musicals.

 

 

 

DAME said: "WAPO is saying it Michael Crawford and Kiss."

 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 8/15/25 at 11:29am

John Adams said: "Here's another "fun" exercise. How many of the following actions can be used in reference to Donald Trump (extra points if you can name the author and the source material)?"

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

To be honest, in a century where even the least-bad administration held human beings in a prison camp without trial, and had an American teenager drone-murdered, then suggested it was his own fault for having a bad father, and joked about using predator drones to kill other American teenagers at a comedy function... well, the complaints described in the Declaration of Independence seem very quaint to me.

 

Updated On: 8/15/25 at 11:29 AM

[Dom P]

Posted: 8/15/25 at 2:48pm

Jeffrey Finn is stepping down. He with his impressive resume will be just fine. Farewell to Center Stage though. The Chairman and his minion Grendel will look at this as a plus,but we know it's not. Finn has high artistic standards. The Chairman and his minion are googling high artistic standards as you read this.

Updated On: 8/15/25 at 02:48 PM

[nycward]

Posted: 8/16/25 at 12:20am

I assume everyone is thinking "What stage performer would associate themselves with this production?" What artist with any sense of dignity would consider being onstage with this insult to the arts? I suspect that we will see relatively unknown young talented artists who can't really turn down an appearance on a nationally televised show. I think as the shape of the show and the casting comes into focus this thread will be longer than the TDF thread that runs into triple digits I'd suspect by now:) 

[John Adams]

Posted: 8/16/25 at 8:46am

kdogg36 said: "John Adams said: "Here's another "fun" exercise. How many of the following actions can be used in reference to Donald Trump (extra points if you can name the author and the source material)?"

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

To be honest, in a century where even the least-bad administration held human beings in a prison camp without trial, and had an American teenager drone-murdered, then suggestedit was his own fault for having a bad father, andjoked about using predator drones to kill other American teenagersat a comedy function... well, the complaints described in the Declaration of Independence seem very quaint to me.

"

Good Morning, kdogg!

I have to be honest. I’m disconcerted by the idea that anyone would label the list of grievances contained in The Declaration of Independence as, “quaint”.

That list is long and varied. That list holds importance because it is the source of reasons for why we went to war; to exist as a country today. Describing those grievances as being charmingly odd or old fashioned implies that their significance is outdated. I don’t agree at all.

The fact that Trump’s current actions mirror so many of those listed in The Declaration of Independence makes them relevant today.  Trump’s actions could also be cited as proof to indicate DJT’s leadership has devolved our country’s system of Democracy backwards in time by 250 years (happy birthday!). We’re back where we started: under the rule of a tyrant-king who has no respect for our laws, our citizens, or our Constitution.

I empathize and have sympathy for the fate of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. I don’t believe he should have died. There is no online article I have found that connects or ties that 16-year-old with any act of terrorism, or association with al-Qaeda beyond his bloodlines.

I have read articles online that indicate he may have been a future danger because of his family members’ reputations. To believe in that POV with any certainty, I would have to believe that people possess skills similar to those of the precogs in “Minority Report”. It’s plainly science fiction.

The description of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki as being “drone-murdered” is a bit hyperbolic. 
Murder always requires motive. Although it’s true that he was assassinated during an un-manned drone strike, and that the strike was intentionally planned, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki’s death is more accurately described as a casualty.

Targeted drone strikes are more precise than dropping a bomb (like we did in Hiroshima/Nagasaki), but they are not so precise as to be able to exclude unintended targets that are in close proximity, as was true re: Abdulrahman.
Additional facts that also enter into the conversation are sourced from this Washington Post article. (NOTE: if you’re pay-blocked, you can alternatively access the article via link #7, under “References” in this Wikipedia post.)

1. He was never on a US “Kill List”
2. The actual target of the attack was, Ibrahim al-Banna, an Egyptian believed to be a senior operative in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Abdulrahman was in the company of al-Banna at the time of the attack. 
3. The US government did not know that Mr. al-Awlaki's son was present before the airstrike was ordered. (I am aware that the phrase, “before the airstrike was ordered” does not specifically answer the question, “Did the US know of his presence at any time before the strike?”)
4. His presence at the attack site has been described as, “being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” I believe this to be the most logical explanation based on three facts: He was never on a “Kill List”, he was not the intended target of the attack, yet he was in the presence of those who were. 

I agree that his death is tragic, but the strongest explanation for his death (even with some reservation) is that he was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong people.

I also agree that former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs’ statement, "I would suggest that you should have a far more responsible father if they are truly concerned about the well-being of their children. I don't think becoming an al-Qaeda jihadist terrorist is the best way to go about doing your business.” was both shameful and thoughtless. I believe it was meant to shift blame away from the White House and onto the victim’s father.

I also agree that President Obama’s ‘joke’ directed to the Jonas Brothers at the White House Correspondent's Association Dinner in 2010 was in very poor taste. For those who might be unfamiliar, the joke was: ”Sasha and Malia are huge fans, but boys, don't get any ideas. Two words for you: predator drones. You will never see it coming.”

Delivering a really bad “Dad joke” at the White House Correspondent's Association Dinner does not support an implication that Pres. Obama was making making a joke about “using predator drones to kill other American teenagers”. That’s also a tad hyperbolic.

There are only three Jonas Brothers and save for Nick Jonas, who was 18 in 2010, they weren’t teenagers. It’s also unlikely that the Jonas Brothers would be getting “any ideas” about Sasha and Melia. Obama’s attempt at comedy by issuing a stern parental warning based on that absurd premise didn’t land as intended because the punch line stepped over the line into poor taste (that stinger, “You will never see it coming.” was particularly ominous).  …also, having to explain why a joke is a joke is even more proof that it’s not a good joke.

[kdogg36]

Posted: 8/16/25 at 10:07am

John Adams said: "Delivering a really bad “Dad joke” at the White House Correspondent's Association Dinner does not support an implication that Pres. Obama was making making a joke about “using predator drones to kill other American teenagers”. That’s also a tad hyperbolic."

Other than the fact that only one of the Jonas Brothers was a teenager at the time, that's literally what he was doing. And I use "literally" literally. 

As for the rest, I appreciate your thoughtful response and I suspect we don't disagree about all that much. And I also don't want to drag this thread any farther afield than I already have (that's on me). I'll just say that I find every modern president to be guilty of far worse than the things George III was accused of in the Declaration, and that's all I meant by my original comment.

Thanks again, and have a great day.

[MezzA101]

Posted: 8/16/25 at 9:19pm

Kennedy Center drops family that made Honors medallions for 47 years

https://wapo.st/470bWeo

 

[bwaylyric]

Posted: 8/16/25 at 11:56pm

MezzA101 said: "Kennedy Center drops family that made Honors medallions for 47 years

https://wapo.st/470bWeo
 

Sad.  I bet the new medallions will feature Trump's likeness, and the rainbow-colored band will be MAGA red.