From the stage of New York City’s greatest music venue, Broadway legend Pattie LuPone implored her audience to stop the destruction of the country’s other great concert hall.
After wrapping her Carnegie Hall concert on Monday, LuPone, 76, launched into a furious speech aimed at President Donald Trump, whom she referred to as the “buffoon.”
“This is now about the Kennedy Center. It’s time for us—it’s over time for us—to rise up and speak!” the Broadway star boomed.
LuPone urged her audience to use social media to “get the information out” that Trump “cannot, cannot, cannot touch the Kennedy Center!”
On Sunday, Trump announced that the Kennedy Center would be closed for two years to allow for “Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding,” according to his Truth Social post.
The $200 million renovation comes after a slew of high-profile artists cancelled their shows at the Washington, D.C., concert hall. Trump, 79, said construction would begin in July.
Following Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center last February and subsequent rebrand, at least 27 artists have cancelled their shows at the historic venue, including Philip Glass, Hamilton, and The Washington National Opera, among others.
“I’m sorry, but I’m so mad,” the Evita star 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.”
LuPone has been a vocal critic of the president for nearly a decade. In a 2017 Tony Awards red carpet interview, the three-time Tony-winning actress held nothing back.
If Trump ever tried to attend one of her performances, Lupone said she would refuse to go on. Asked why, LuPone simply responded, “Because I hate the motherf---er. How’s that?”
In an interview with The New Yorker in May, LuPone wished, more than once, to see the “Trumpified Kennedy Center” get “blown up.” Now, she may get her wish, for better or worse.
On Monday, the president, who has already begun a $300 million reconstruction of the White House’s East Wing, insisted that the reconstruction would not completely destroy the iconic venue.
“I’m not ripping it down. We’ll be using the steel, so we’re using the structure,” Trump said, but noted that some of the marble will also “come down.”
