Conan O’Brien Showed Up and Made Headlines While Lin-Manuel Miranda Walked Away
This website on March 14 published an article I wrote criticizing Lin-Manuel Miranda for canceling performances of Hamilton at the Kennedy Center because of the changes made by President Trump.
“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,” he said in a joint interview with the New York Times on March 5 with its lead producer, Jeffrey Seller.
My reason for criticizing Mr. Miranda’s decision was not because I agreed with the changes made by Mr. Trump. I don’t.
What I find wrong with Mr. Miranda’s decision is that his cancellation of “Hamilton” can adversely hurt hundreds of people without having any affect on Kennedy Center’s new management.
It can hurt people who make a living by working as stagehands at the center, people who sell refreshments, people who clean up after performances, the staff of restaurants close to the venue, and taxi drivers who transport patrons to the center and home again after performances and actors in the cast as well as disappointing customers who were looking forward to seeing one of the most unique shows in theater history.
I took a lot of flack from a few people who read that article, telling me, “I don’t get it.” My response was that the people who will be hurt because of Mr. Miranda’s decision, the workers at the center, cab drivers and restaurant workers will be hurt by the Hamilton cancellation.
One person who will not be hurt by the decision is Mr. Miranda.
Even though I don’t agree, I understand where Mr. Miranda is coming from. It’s just I think that there is a better way to retaliate against Mr. Trump’s Kennedy Center takeover than hurt people who depend on performances at the Kennedy Center to put bread on their tables.
Mr. Miranda’s problems with the Kennedy Center received minor news coverage. It was a one day and done story. His objections to President Trump’s takeover could have been done in a way that received major news coverage, and in a manner that did not adversely affect people whose incomes depend on Kennedy Center performances. His decision to cancel was mainly an “inside baseball” story.
There had to be a better way to demonstrate disagreement with Mr. Trump, I said. I told my wife that if I was organizing a protest of Mr. Trump’s revamping the Kennedy Center management I would tell the artists not to cancel their appearances, but to go on with the show and let it be known to the audiences about their disagreement with the changes made by Mr. Trump. That, I said, would make major news headiness.
My theory was borne out on March 23 when Conan O’Brien was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center. Appearing with Mr. O’Brien was a bevy of A-list bold face comedians who criticized Mr. Trump. Mr. O’Brien also pointedly took a jab at the president by thanking the former management of the center.
The result was major news coverage. Other artists scheduled to appear at the Kennedy Center should follow Mr. O’Brien’s route, not those of Mr. Miranda’s.
Early in my PR career, for 10 years, I worked with major performers. They included stars from the Broadway stage and from television during the Golden Age of TV. Very few of them understood publican relations.
If Mr. Miranda wanted to make his views about the Kennedy Center become headline news, he should have had a pubic relations professional stage the announcement.
