Seattle Children's Theatre Withdraws From Upcoming Kennedy Center Engagement

Seattle Children’s Theatre has withdrawn from an upcoming two-week run of performances at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C, reports NPR.

BroadwayWorld previously reported the company had been scheduled to bring its new play, Young Dragon: A Bruce Lee Story, to the Kennedy Center for performances in April, following a February 20 premiere in Seattle. The production was co-commissioned by the Kennedy Center and has been in development for approximately two years.

In a statement released Tuesday morning, Seattle Children’s Theatre Managing Director Kevin Malgesini said that "the landscape in which Young Dragon was originally created has changed," adding that the organization determined "this is not the right time to transfer a SCT production to the Kennedy Center."

The decision comes amid a period in which multiple artists and organizations have canceled or withdrawn appearances at the Kennedy Center during President Trump’s second administration, with some citing the White House’s actions affecting staffing and programming at the venue.

Under the terms of the agreement, Seattle Children’s Theatre would have produced Young Dragon independently while retaining full artistic control. After the Seattle opening, the Kennedy Center was slated to pay SCT $80,000 to cover costs associated with transporting the production’s sets and costumes to the East Coast. That funding would also have been used to pay salaries for six performers and three understudies during the D.C. engagement.