Trump, Donald J

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      in Theater

      Amid Trump Cuts, Officials Resign From the National Endowment for the Arts

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      Senior officials announced their resignations after the Trump administration withdrew grants from arts organizations around the country.A group of senior officials at the National Endowment for the Arts announced their resignations on Monday, days after the Trump administration began withdrawing grants from arts groups across the nation.Their departures, which come as the endowment has been withdrawing current grant offers and President Trump has proposed eliminating the agency altogether next year, became public on Monday in a series of emails and social media posts.An N.E.A. spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.Among those leaving the agency are directors overseeing grants for dance, design, folk and traditional arts, museums and visual arts, and theater. Also departing are the directors of arts education, multidisciplinary works and the “partnership” division, which oversees work with state and local arts agencies. Those officials announced their departures in newsletters sent out by the endowment starting at midday on Monday.The head of the agency’s literary arts division is leaving as well, along with three members of her team, according to a newsletter sent on Monday morning by LitNet, a coalition of literary organizations.The announcement of the departures left the besieged agency facing even more uncertainty. It is not clear how or whether the agency would issue grants without this tier of officials. A round of grant cancellation notifications that went out Friday night indicated that the agency expected to continue making grants, but in areas prioritized by Mr. Trump.Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of the Public Theater in New York and one of the leaders of the Professional Non-Profit Theater Coalition, said the staff resignations were “worrisome.” He added that while he did not criticize anyone for leaving, he feared the departures could make it easier to eliminate the agency.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 138 Shares189 Views

      in Movies

      Trump Called for Movie Tariffs After a Meeting With Jon Voight

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      The president’s call for tariffs caused confusion in Hollywood, which has seen a steep drop-off in local film and television production.President Trump’s call to impose steep tariffs on movies “produced in Foreign Lands” came after he met at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend with the actor Jon Voight, whom he named a “special ambassador” to Hollywood this year.The president’s social media post on Sunday that called for a 100 percent tariff on films produced outside the United States caused confusion in Hollywood, which has lost a great deal of local film and television production to states and nations that offer rich tax credits and cheaper labor. While few in the industry said that they understood Mr. Trump’s proposal, some worried that tariffs could cause more harm than good and called instead for federal help in the form of tax credits.Mr. Voight and Steven Paul, his longtime manager, met with Mr. Trump over the weekend and shared their plans to increase domestic film production, according to a statement from SP Media Group, Mr. Paul’s firm. They suggested federal tax incentives, changes to the tax code, co-production treaties with other nations and infrastructure subsidies, the statement said.The proposal also included “tariffs in certain limited circumstances,” the statement said, adding that it was under review.Mr. Voight made the rounds of Hollywood last week, meeting with the Motion Picture Association, Hollywood’s top lobbying group; various unions; and the state representatives who are pushing bills to increase state tax credits for the film and television industries. State Senator Ben Allen, a Democrat whose district includes Hollywood, met with the actor to discuss how to increase production in the state, a representative said.Mr. Voight emerged from those meetings with two one-page documents drafted by the M.P.A. One letter encourages lawmakers in Washington to adopt a manufacturing and production incentive to encourage more domestic employment. The other asks Congress to extend a section of the tax code that expires at the end of 2025 and allows certain film and television expenses to be deducted in the year they are incurred.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares99 Views

      in Theater

      The National Endowment for the Arts Begins Terminating Grants

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      The endowment told arts organizations that it was withdrawing or canceling current grants just hours after President Trump proposed eliminating the agency in the next fiscal year.The National Endowment for the Arts withdrew and canceled grant offers to numerous arts organizations around the country on Friday night, sending a round of email notifications out just hours after President Trump proposed eliminating the agency in his next budget.The move, although not unexpected, was met with disappointment and anger by arts administrators who had counted on the grants to finance ongoing projects.In Oregon, Portland Playhouse received an email from the endowment just 24 hours before opening a production of August Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” an acclaimed work that is part of the playwright’s series of 10 dramas about African Americans through the course of the 20th century. The N.E.A. had recommended a $25,000 grant for the show, which would have paid about one-fifth of the production’s personnel costs.“Times are tough for theaters — we’re already pressed, and in this moment where every dollar matters, this was a critical piece of our budget,” said Brian Weaver, the theater’s producing artistic director. “It’s ridiculous.”The emails were sent to arts administrators from an address at the endowment that did not accept replies. “The N.E.A. is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the president,” the emails said. “Consequently, we are terminating awards that fall outside these new priorities.”The emails went on to say that the endowment would now prioritize projects that “elevate” historically Black colleges and universities, and colleges that serve Hispanic students. The emails also said the endowment would focus on projects that “celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, foster A.I. competency, empower houses of worship to serve communities, assist with disaster recovery, foster skilled trade jobs, make America healthy again, support the military and veterans, support Tribal communities, make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful, and support the economic development of Asian American communities.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 75 Shares189 Views

      in Theater

      Trump Seeks to Eliminate the NEA

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      The president’s budget proposal also called for getting rid of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences.President Trump proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities in the budget he released Friday, taking aim once again at two agencies that he had tried and failed to get rid of during his first term.The endowments, along with the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, were among the entities listed in a section titled “small agency eliminations” in his budget blueprint for the next fiscal year. The document said that the proposal was “consistent with the president’s efforts to decrease the size of the federal government to enhance accountability, reduce waste, and reduce unnecessary governmental entities” and noted that Mr. Trump’s past budget proposals had “also supported these eliminations.”In 2017, during his first term, Mr. Trump proposed eliminating both the arts and the humanities endowments. But bipartisan support in Congress kept them alive, and in fact their budgets grew during the first Trump administration.Since Mr. Trump returned to office this year, his administration has taken aim at the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, canceling most of their existing grants and laying off a large portion of their staffs. But the arts agency had yet to announce major cuts.The proposal to eliminate the endowments drew a quick and furious reaction from Democrats. One, Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, vowed to fight the plan to eliminate the N.E.A. “tooth and nail.”Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine, who serves as the top Democrat on the House subcommittee overseeing the N.E.A., said in an interview that Mr. Trump was “making a broad-based attack on the arts, both for funding and content.” She cited his proposals to eliminate the endowments as well as his takeover of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington and his efforts to influence the Smithsonian Institution.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 138 Shares199 Views

      in Television

      ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Wants to End With a Message of Hope

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      In interviews, Elisabeth Moss and other stars and creators of the groundbreaking drama discuss its impending conclusion and ongoing connection to American politics.Though it was conceived in the Obama era, “The Handmaid’s Tale” arrived on Hulu in the early months of the first Trump presidency. Eight years later, it is concluding at the dawn of the second as an enduring, if initially accidental symbol of feminist resistance.Like the 1985 Margaret Atwood novel it is based upon, “The Handmaid’s Tale” focuses on the violence inflicted on women in Gilead, a place plagued by low birthrates and environmental disasters that divides women, based on age and fertility, into Wives, Handmaids, Marthas, Aunts, Econowives and Unwomen.From the beginning, the show has invited interpretation as a running commentary on real-world gender politics — female activists nationwide wore the Handmaid’s uniform of red cloaks and stark white bonnets in protests, and “The Handmaid’s Tale” made history as the first streaming series to win the Emmy for best drama, in 2017. And its dystopian conceit of a nation claiming complete control over women’s reproductive rights became only more ominous as more U.S. state legislatures passed abortion restrictions, culminating in the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.“The Handmaid’s Tale” debuted in 2017 and became a symbol of feminist resistance.George Kraychyk/Hulu“The Handmaid’s Tale” will end on May 27. (A spinoff series called “The Testaments” is currently in production.) The sixth and final season is focusing on the power of collective action, including unanticipated collaboration between the former enemies June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) and Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) in attempting to destroy Gilead and restore American democracy. (As a former Handmaid, June was routinely sexually assaulted by Serena’s husband, a high-ranking official.)Multiple members of the creative team talked about “The Handmaid’s Tale” in recent video interviews, including Strahovski and Moss, who is also a producer and director on the series; Bruce Miller, the creator; Warren Littlefield, a producer; and Yahlin Chang and Eric Tuchman, the Season 6 showrunners (both were writers in earlier seasons).We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 138 Shares169 Views

      in Music

      Detroit Opera Steps Into Trump’s Cross Hairs With ‘Central Park Five’

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      A rehearsal of “The Central Park Five,” an opera about the Black and Latino boys wrongly convicted of raping a Central Park jogger, was just a few days old this month when the tenor who plays Donald J. Trump began to sing.“They are animals! Monsters!…Support our police! Bring back the death penalty!” he bellowed.The opera, which chronicles how the young men were forced to confess and later were exonerated, depicts President Trump as an inflammatory figure who, in 1989, bought several full-page newspaper ads that demonized “roving bands of wild criminals,” adding, “I want them to be afraid.”When the work — composed by Anthony Davis with a libretto by Richard Wesley — premiered in California in 2019, Mr. Trump’s approval ratings were low and Democrats were itching to challenge him.Now, as a new production opens next month at the Detroit Opera House, the setting is quite different. Mr. Trump is a resurrected, emboldened political force who, since returning to office, has wielded power to shutter federal agencies, cut grants and strong-arm law firms and universities, all of which has led some opponents to worry about retaliation.None of this has been lost on Detroit Opera, as the company braces for blowback and hopes for applause. Its leadership team understands the perils of mounting a production that waves a red cape at a pumped-up, reactive presidency.Surprisingly, the opera is partially financed by the National Endowment for the Arts, with some $40,000 of the production’s $1 million cost coming through a federal grant. It was awarded, and paid, before the agency canceled most of its existing grants at the Trump administration’s direction.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 100 Shares129 Views

      in Music

      Under Trump, Kennedy Center Fires More Staff Members

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      At least a half-dozen staff members at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts were dismissed on Friday, according to two people with knowledge of the changes, as the Trump administration continues to strengthen its control of the institution.The fired employees worked on the center’s government relations, marketing, social media and rentals teams, said the two people, who were granted anonymity because the dismissals had not been publicized. They said roughly 20 employees had been dismissed since President Trump took over the institution in February.The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Mr. Trump stunned the cultural and political worlds when he made himself chairman of the Kennedy Center and purged its previously bipartisan board of Biden appointees. He ousted the longtime chairman — the financier David M. Rubenstein, who was the center’s largest donor — and stacked the board with his own aides and allies. Deborah F. Rutter, the center’s president for more than a decade, was fired and replaced with a Trump loyalist, Richard Grenell.The president’s actions have prompted an outcry, leading some artists to cancel engagements there in protest. The musical “Hamilton” scrapped a planned series of tour performances there next year.Mr. Grenell, a former ambassador to Germany, has moved swiftly to cull the Kennedy Center’s ranks, saying the institution faces serious financial problems. He has promised to cut executive pay and reduce the staff “where possible.” He has also denounced some of the center’s efforts to embrace diversity, saying the center should promote “common sense programming.”Last month, Mr. Grenell fired several employees who had been part of a community outreach program known as Social Impact. The program had worked to expand the audience for opera and symphony performances, to commission works by underrepresented voices and to “advance justice and equity.”Critics say that the Trump administration is exaggerating the Kennedy Center’s financial problems and that the cuts are meant to help advance the president’s political agenda. The center has been in relatively stable condition in recent years, though like many arts organizations, it has faced financial woes. While fund-raising has been robust recently, the endowment, at $163 million, is relatively small for an institution of its size. More

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      in Television

      Trump and ‘The Residence’ Share a Fixation on Water Pressure

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      Paul William Davies, the creator of “The Residence,” talks about overlapping themes between his series and the actual Trump administration.This week, as the global economy struggled to adjust to whipsawing tariff policies, President Trump signed an executive order to address another national crisis: weak shower head pressure.The order, aimed at reducing bureaucracy and regulation, reverses limits on how much water can pour out of a nozzle per minute, which were implemented by the Obama and Biden administrations in an attempt to conserve water.Mr. Trump, while signing the order, noted that, in particular, he doesn’t appreciate that weak pressure hinders him from getting a good hair wash.“In my case I like to take a nice shower, to take care of my beautiful hair,” he told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “I have to stand under the shower for 15 minutes until it gets wet. It comes out drip, drip, drip. It’s ridiculous.”Weak shower pressure has been one of Mr. Trump’s longstanding pet peeves. But the whole thing may have sounded familiar — a little too familiar — for anyone who has been watching Netflix’s recent screwball mystery series, “The Residence,” in which President Perry Morgan, played by Paul Fitzgerald, has a similar pet peeve, with a White House usher explaining that he demands “pressure like a fire hose.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More