Cinema News: Kennedy Center without Trump’s name?

June 12, 2026 | View in browser

By Jessica Gelt

Arts Editor

President Trump’s name was erased from the Kennedy Center’s website Monday, at which point the clock began ticking down to a court-ordered Friday deadline for removing his moniker from the building as well as all remaining signage. The anticipation is so great that a live cam has been placed near the structure that gives a view of the facade so interested parties can watch when the event actually happens. Crowds are also gathering hoping to catch the historic moment.

Thursday afternoon, however, as more than 600 people tuned into the livestream of the building, the board voted to seek a last-minute stay of the court order for removal. Reps for the center have not responded to multiple questions about whether Trump plans to remain chairman after threatening to hand control of the venue over to Congress. But this Hail Mary pass on the part of the board indicates that he intends to hang on.

When Trump’s name is finally removed (either Friday or in the months or years ahead), people will feel relief — but the center will still be tainted by the serious damage inflicted on it since Trump fired the board and had himself appointed chairman. Even though U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered a halt to the two-year closure Trump first decreed on social media, there is little hope that the depleted and demoralized staff will be able to drum up a robust summer season of programming. Recruiting performances for the fall will also be difficult since most touring music, dance and theater shows plan their calendars months in advance, if not longer.

With his takeover, Trump has bent the center to his will, first by eliminating those “who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture,” as he wrote on Truth Social, and later by bringing in leadership, including former ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who further alienated remaining staffers. Artists defections became common, cancellations continued to add up and the center lost the Washington National Opera, which had occupied the venue since 1971. (Grenell was replaced by Matt Floca in March.)

The decision to close for two years was the coup de grâce, after which the already lean staff was subjected to layoffs, reportedly in the double digits.

As with many institutions and structures that Trump chooses to put his mark on, the results have not been subtle. What Trump has done to the Kennedy Center is nothing less than a full-scale ransacking. The building is now a bit like a home after a burglary — still beloved but uncomfortable to occupy, and missing many of its most prized possessions.

In time that will change, but the memory will always linger.

I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt live-streaming change. This is your arts and culture news for the week.

The week ahead: A curated calendar

FRIDAY

Batman
A rare 70 mm screening of the 1989 Tim Burton movie starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger is part of this year’s Ultra Cinematheque 70 Fest.
7:30 p.m. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica. americancinematheque.com

The Book of Will
The Curtis Theatre and Begins and Ends with A present this play by Lauren Gunderson based on the true story behind the publication of William Shakespeare’s first folio. Directed by Amanda Hallman.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday; 8 p.m. June 19-20; 3 p.m. June 20-21. Curtis Theatre, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea. www.curtistheatre.com

Heart of Darkness
Zombie Joe and and Brian Lozano Aguilar star as Kurtz and Willard, respectively, in a unique stage adaptation of the Joseph Conrad novel and its film adaptation, “Apocalypse Now,” by Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group.
8 and 9:15 p.m. Friday and Saturday and June 19-20. ZJU Theatre Group, 4850 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. zombiejoes.com

Hunx and his Punx
If summer camp is your jam, the latest offering in the Getty’s free Off the 405 concert series is right up your alley. This queer garage punk trio — Seth Bogart, Shannon Shaw and Erin Emslie — combine retro-trash aesthetics and girl-group harmonies with dark humor and a heightened sense of the theatrical. Preceded by a DJ set from Vice Cooler at 6 p.m.

7:30 p.m. Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood. getty.edu

Gerald Jackson

“The Rooftop Paintings at 255 Bowery” is an exhibition of paintings and works on paper made by the artist in the early 1980s on New York’s Lower East Side. On Saturday from 1-5 p.m., “Everybody Loves the Sunshine — A Summer Solstice Celebration” at Zebulon Café Concert (2478 Fletcher Drive) pays tribute to the artist and promises free music from Garth Trinidad, live poetry and popsicles.
Opening reception, 6-8 p.m Friday; exhibition continues through Aug. 15. Parker Gallery, 6600 Melrose Ave. parkergallery.com

Manhunter: The Final Cut
The director’s version of Michael Mann’s 1986 film, based on the Thomas Harris novel “Red Dragon,” premieres with Mann in person. William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen and Tom Noonan star, with Brian Cox as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor, the iconic character’s first onscreen portrayal. The movie leads off the Academy Museum’s Summer of Thrills action series.
7:30 p.m. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. academymuseum.org

Hershey Felder: The Piano & Me
We’re used to seeing the performer portray musical geniuses such as Gershwin, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and more in his composers’ series of one-man musical plays. His new show is autobiographical, telling his own story as he plays the music of those who inspire him.
Through June 21. South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scr.org

Paula Poundstone
The comedian and regular panelist on NPR’s “Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me” brings her observational humor to Beverly Hills.
7:30 p.m. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org

WonderWalk
The rebranded immersive entertainment destination features three hallucinatory, but kid-friendly, attractions. The Museum of Illusions makes you an action star (and a rock star) as you race through one virtual adventure after another; In the Upside Down House, you can live the dream of walking on the ceiling; and in a Giant’s House, find out what it’s like to be 50 feet tall.
11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. WonderWalk, 6751 Hollywood Blvd. illusionsla.com

SATURDAY

Contra-Tiempo Dance Company
The local, activist troupe combines salsa, Afro-Cuban, hip-hop and contemporary dance “into a physical language of joy, resistance, and storytelling” as it presents “Roots of Loving Us,”a full-length work-in-progress.
2 and 8 p.m. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. sierramadreplayhouse.org

Craft in America
The L.A.-based nonprofit arts organization presents two new exhibitions, “Cowboy Craft: Traditional Art of the West” and “Marques Hanalei Marzan: Entwine,” related to the “West” episode of the PBS series “Craft in America” (available to stream online).
Opening reception, 4-6 p.m. Sunday. Noon-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Craft in America Center, 8415 W. 3rd St. craftinamerica.org

Half Night One Acts: Frequencies
Giraffe Studios presents an evening of original short-form theater, featuring plays written by Matthew Goldin, Akosa Ibekwe, Nathan Jefferson and Emma Gardner; directed by Madeleine Woolner.
7:30 p.m. Tropico Beauty, 415 W. Palmer Ave., Glendale. giraffestudiosla.com

Singularities and Safety Pins
Sonder Theatre Company and Astro Lab present the L.A. premiere of Carmella Riley’s solo play, an exploration of grief, the role of caregiving and family dynamics, directed by Jennifer Green.
7:30 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. June 20. Colony Theatre, 555 N. 3rd St., Burbank. sondertheatrecompany.org

SUNDAY

Fashioning Chinese Women: Empire to Modernity
This new exhibition traces the changes in Chinese women’s dress from the 19th century through the 20th. From loose-fitting embroidered robes through the sleek silhouettes of the 1930s and a global wave of popularity in the 1960s, these garments became instantly recognizable statements through their vibrant colors and detailed craftsmanship.
Through Oct. 12. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. lacma.org

TUESDAY

Kalia Vandever
The jazz trombonist and composer plays a release show for the new album “Mana,” which blends Hawaiian mythology and ancestry into an electroacoustic meditation. The opening act is megiapa.
8:15 p.m. 2220 Arts + Archives, 2220 Beverly Blvd. dice.fm

Arts anywhere

New and recent releases of arts-related media.

Vijay Gupta
The former LA Philharmonic violinist discusses his new book, “Restrung: A Memoir of Music and Transformation” (Da Capo: 320 pages, $30), which chronicles his burnout, collapse and subsequent creative transformation. The evening is a mix of artistry and advocacy with a live performance by Gupta and a book signing.
8 p.m. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. sierramadreplayhouse.org

— Kevin Crust

Culture news and the SoCal scene

The 79th Tony Awards took place Sunday and The Times Arts team was watching. Times theater critic Charles McNulty weighed in on all the night’s big wins, including “Schmigadoon!” for musical, “Liberation” for play and “Death of a Salesman” for revival of a play. Our very own newsletter editor Kevin Crust kept the night’s running list of winners; and I tackled a few stories, including one in which I reported that John Lithgow and Laurie Metcalf now both have three Tonys. I also pulled together a quick story about the night’s most political speech, made by Ali Louis Bourzgui, who scored an upset win for performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical for originating the role of David in the musical adaptation of the cult vampire horror film “The Lost Boys.” The following day McNulty and I rounded up seven stand-out moments from the show.

Writer Shana Nys Dambrot got the scoop on Dataland, Refik Anadol’s soon-to-open AI arts museum in downtown L.A. that will include piped-in scent and sound for a personalized experience. “Dataland’s inaugural exhibition, ‘Machine Dreams: Rainforest,’ is the studio’s opening salvo in the battle to redefine our burgeoning relationship with the evolving technology,” Dambrot writes.

In addition to bearing witness to Gustavo Dudamel’s final shows at Walt Disney Concert Hall as music and artistic director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, classical music critic Mark Swed covered the farewell of longtime L.A. Opera music director James Conlon. “A site of big changes, the Music Center has become farewell central. Alongside the Gustavo Dudamel hullabaloo at Walt Disney Concert Hall, James Conlon has begun his final appearances in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion as music director for two decades of Los Angeles Opera, with his own signature form of enchantment in Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute,’ ” Swed writes.

Swed also limned a meaningful moment during Dudamel’s official final show when the orchestra flat-out would not stand when he asked them to. “Sunday afternoon, they wouldn’t stand. Again and again, they stubbornly refused. With an encouraging smile, Dudamel took the concertmaster’s arm, gently lifting him to his feet, but he sat back down when no one in the orchestra followed. Dudamel never looks nonplussed. He looked dumbfounded,” Swed wrote of what was surely a gesture made out of an abundance of love and respect.

You may know Martin Mull best as a comedic actor, but he was also a talented artist. Eloise Rollins-Fife got the exclusive that actor (and avid art collector) Steve Martin and Hammer Museum Director Emerita Ann Philbin are co-curating a 2027 exhibit of Mull’s work at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The show, “Martin Mull: The Joys of Indoor/Outdoor Living,” will be the first major museum exhibition of Mull’s artwork in 20 years.

The Times also checked in with Hollywood Fringe, which opened Thursday with a record number of shows and performers. The pandemic wrecked havoc on live theater, but it turns out the Fringe theater festival used the pause to rethink its approach, coming back stronger than before under new leadership.

Writer Julius Miller took an early tour of the Huntington’s new semiquincentennial exhibit, “This Land Is...” and detailed five must-see items that visitors should be sure to catch — including Woody Guthrie’s “This machine kills fascists” guitar.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic continued its many changes as it prepares for a world without Dudamel. On Thursday, it announced the appointment of Vineta Sareika as concertmaster. Sareika, who will take on the role in the 2026/27 season alongside the Phil’s new music director, Daniel Harding, is an internationally known violinist, chamber musician, educator and orchestral leader.

The late philanthropist Wallis Annenberg received a major honor Wednesday when the County of Los Angeles and the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills declared July 15 “Wallis Annenberg Day.” The inaugural celebration will take place on what would have been Annenberg’s 87th birthday.

— Jessica Gelt

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