Guster Brings ‘Finn’ Cast Onstage at Kennedy Center After Trump-led Venue Cancelled Run

The alternative-indie band Guster had a message for those in the audience of their show at Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center over the weekend: “We stand with the LGBTQ community.”

The “One Man Wrecking Machine” band performed at the venue on Friday, March 28. They spoke-out about the venue’s new leadership — led by President Donald Trump — during their set and invited the cast of “Finn” to join them onstage. Earlier this year, “Finn” made headlines after the production was cancelled from the center’s lineup.

“I have a friend named Michael who wrote the songs for a musical called ‘Finn,'” Guster frontman Ryan Miller told the crowd. “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.”

Miller continued: “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. 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.”

The cast of “Finn” performed a rendition of Guster’s 2018 hit “Hard Times.”

The Kennedy Center’s new leadership has been under fire this year; the public have spoken-out about the direction of the venue, with many worried of its future under Trump’s leadership. The President previously said that he plans to eliminate drag shows and “woke” art at the venue, though admitted he has never actually seen a show at the institution.

| READ: Trump Says He Wants to Stage ‘Cats,’ Other ‘Non-Woke’ Shows at Kennedy Center |

In audio from a board meeting, obtained by The Washington Post, Trump said that he would like the venue to go “slightly more conservative” with their programming, noting that he wants some “non-woke” musicals to perform there, like “Cats,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” and “Phantom of the Opera.”

“Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera,” both written by Broadway legend Andrew Lloyd Webber, seem to have “non-woke” themes, like diversity, love, non-judgmental views, and social inclusion.

Last month, drag queens and kings showed their support for the LGBTQ+ community by holding a march to the Kennedy Center, followed by a rally, following Trump’s comments regarding the cancellation of “woke” events at the venue. A petition was also launched by the advocacy group Qommittee, which is calling-on the venue’s donors to suspect funding until artistic independence is restored. Currently, the petition has received nearly 40,000 signatures.

The rally follows a list of cancellations at the Kennedy Center, including the notable, award-winning show “Hamilton.” Producer Jeffrey Seller posted a lengthy statement to Instagram sharing the cancellation, where he noted that  “recent purge by the Trump Administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center flies in the face of everything this national cultural center represents.”

“Hamilton” isn’t alone; the Kennedy Center released a list of show cancellations and postponements over the past six months. Roma Daravi, VP of public relations at the center, noted in a statement that the list was published “in the spirit of transparency due to the litany of misinformation being spread in the press,” noting that the only shows the venue has cancelled were “due to lack of sales or artist availability.”