Donald trump has probably not studied Antonio Gramsci but he doesn’t need to. He intuitively understands the chief insight of that Marxist theorist, who said that power comes from commandeering not only the state, but also the culture. It is not enough to seize the federal bureaucracy; one has to get the tastemakers too. Cue Mr Trump’s arrival this week at Washington’s foremost cultural institution, the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts.
The Kennedy Centre, says the president, has got too “wokey”. He has remade its board and, in a recording leaked to news outlets, suggested that he headline its annual awards ceremony. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and the International Pride Orchestra have had performances cancelled. The creator of the hit musical “Hamilton”, an exemplar of DEI in casting, has nixed a forthcoming run in protest.
This will not help the centre’s finances: as it is, operating expenses far exceed ticket sales, with donors plugging the gap. Still there was a deficit of $1.3m in 2023. Richard Grenell, the centre’s new president, thinks the answer is “a big, huge celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas”. Mr Trump’s press secretary expects shows that “embrace” rather than “disparage” America. Washington’s cultural cognoscenti are aghast.
To consider what a programming slate built on faith and flag might look like, visit Branson, Missouri, which is about as far from the coasts as you can get. Branson is a show town in the Ozarks, the buckle of the Bible Belt, and a good place to evaluate the promise and pitfalls of Mr Trump’s vision. The city—population 13,000—draws several million tourists a year and is a kind of Christian Las Vegas. Except on this Strip there are no casinos or showgirls. There are country-music revues and variety shows. There is a “Dixie Outfitters” selling Trump gear and a “Four Seasons” (not that kind: this is a discount town). Branson does not celebrate veterans day. It celebrates veterans week and that week, says the mayor, is eight days long.
This is the sort of place where men can wear skirts while playing the harp on stage and no one will question their morals. Such is the entertainment dreamed up by Sight & Sound, a company which makes period-correct Bible musicals and rivals Broadway in production quality. Matt Neff, the boss, says it sells between 550,000 and 700,000 tickets a year at its reliably packed theatre in Branson. He would take a call from the Kennedy Centre (“great space, amazing property”) if it came.
The other acts in Branson are less explicitly biblical; they sell good clean nostalgia. In the 1980s second-tier country artists who had tired of touring realised fans would travel to them. Venues mushroomed. This newspaper marvelled at the showbiz boom, writing that “everyone is on the golden road together”. But after the old guard died no big names took their place. The number of theatres has halved from its peak.
Those who hanker for the good old days see the demise of the starry residency as a supply problem. Less is said about demand for this sort of entertainment. What acts remain mostly perform covers. Several are Elvis tributes. (Mr Trump has a theory about this, which he shared with the Kennedy Centre board: “Elvis sells better as a dead man.”)
Will that institution go the way of Branson? The centre will lose its traditional audience and donors, predicts Michael Kaiser, who used to run it. “In four years, who’s going to pay the bills?”■
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