When Politics Upstages the Show the Audience Loses
Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this article:
How political statements and performance cancellations in the arts impact audiences, workers, and the broader cultural landscape.
Why public displays of political disagreement by performers differ from private, principled refusals in the PR profession.
Practical guidance for communications professionals on handling client conflicts without creating public controversy.
For 10 years before being recruited by Burson-Marsteller, I was on Broadway. Not as an entertainer, but running the PR arm of Arthur Cantor/Advance Public Relations, a national PR and producing agency.
Although the agency handled non-entertainment clients, it was mostly known as an entertainment shop. As such, I worked with all sorts of TV and legit stage performers, and other non-performers in the business. It did not matter if a person was liberal, conservative, gay or straight. We respected each other’s viewpoints. There were many disagreements among us, all about the creative process, but we all had the same goal in mind: make the production as good as possible. Individual beliefs did not matter.
For decades, individual performers have publicly spoken out about politics. And that is fine with me. What is not fine with me is when performers refuse to perform because of politics. That mainly hurts the audience, which is composed of people of all political stripes.
Two of the most publicized occurrences of actors behaving badly, in my opinion, involve “Hamilton,” the widely acclaimed Broadway hit. On Nov. 19, 2016, Vice President Mike Pence attended a performance of the show. At the end of the performance, according to The New York Times, the actor who played Vice President Aaron Burr, Brandon Victor Dixon, acknowledged that Pence was in the audience, thanked him for attending and added, “We hope you will hear us out.”
“We, sir, we, are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights,” he said. “We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us.”
Published reports said Pence was leaving as Dixon began to read the statement from the stage. A show spokesman said Pence stood in the hallway outside the entrance to the auditorium and heard the full remarks. Pence said he was not upset by being lectured.
The statement Dixon read, said the Times, was written by the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda; its director, Thomas Kail; and the lead producer, Jeffrey Seller, with input from cast members, Seller said. Seller said there was discussion about whether it was appropriate to inject a political statement into the night, and that those involved decided to wait until the end of the performance. He also said no cast members had skipped the performance to protest Pence’s appearance.
Then, earlier this year, Miranda canceled performances of “Hamilton” at the Kennedy Center, which was supposed to be part of the celebration next year of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
“The Kennedy Center was not created in this spirit, and we’re not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center. We’re just not going to be part of it,” Miranda said in a joint interview with The New York Times on March 5 with Seller.
In this case, the ego-centric Miranda infused politics into show business, just as the ego-centric President Donald Trump has with his takeover of the venue.
On March 6, NBC reported: “We are not acting against his administration, but against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center as a result of his recent takeover,” Seller said. “These actions bring a new spirit of partisanship to the national treasure that is the Kennedy Center.”
What makes canceling the “Hamilton” performances any less partisan than what Trump has done? Birds of a feather, in my opinion.
It is important to note that the Kennedy Center did not cancel “Hamilton.” It was Miranda and Seller who canceled the center.
What prompted me to write this essay was an article in the Aug. 7 Times, which reported that The Royal Ballet and Opera, one of Britain’s most prominent arts institutions, has canceled a collaboration with the Israeli Opera to stage “Tosca” in Tel Aviv next year. The company’s chief executive announced the decision to the staff on Friday, noting that an open letter criticizing its approach to Israel and the war in Gaza had been circulating through the ranks.
Are we now reaching the point that performers will only perform before audiences that agree with them politically? Have we reached the point where politicians will be lectured if a cast member disagrees with their positions? If so, we may soon reach the point where politicians out for a night of relaxation will no longer attend performances for fear of being called out.
Hopefully what Miranda has done by canceling the Kennedy Center performances, and what The Royal Ballet and Opera did by canceling its Tel Aviv show, are exceptions and that artists will not let their political beliefs be the prime factor in choosing to perform before an audience or boycott venues.
In my opinion, the theater should be a place that welcomes audiences of all political stripes. Politics, if any, should be part of the production. Personal politics should be left outside the theater.
The only people hurt by the “Hamilton” and Royal Ballet and Opera decisions are the disappointed audiences, who are composed of people of all political stripes; actors who would have appeared in the productions; and venue workers who would have been employed. Certainly not Miranda, Seller or the high-salaried managers of the Royal Opera.
During my PR career, I refused to work on five accounts because I disagreed with the client’s mission. But I never made a public issue out of it. Instead, I quietly told top management why I could not in good conscience work on the accounts. Sadly, I only know of one other practitioner who refused to work on an account because it went against her principles.
I especially fault the “Hamilton” actor and producers for making a public display of their actions, which they knew would receive major news coverage. I advise PR practitioners not to work on accounts they morally disapprove of without letting it be known throughout the agency. Quietly let top management know the reasons for your refusal. The answer you receive from management will tell you how they value you as an employee.
