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Kennedy Center's 'Shear Madness' becomes Trump-related collateral damage
Kennedy Center’s ‘Shear Madness’ becomes Trump-related collateral damage
After 39 years and thousands of performances, the cast of the kooky whodunit will take their final bows.
Today at 5:00 a.m. EDT
“Shear Madness” is scheduled to stage its last show on Sunday night. (Al Drago/For The Washington Post)
By Elahe Izadi
On a recent Wednesday night, a swarm of teenagers on a class trip filed into a pristine theater at one of the world’s most vaunted cultural venues and sat down to solve a murder. ... Exactly as hundreds of their peers had done the night before. And the night before that. And almost every night during theatrical seasons for the past 39 years.
They were here for “Shear Madness,” the campy, topical-but-ultimately-inoffensive comedic whodunit that has been a mainstay at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since before some of their parents were born. ... And whether they knew it or not, they were likely some of the last to partake in a tradition of American theater. “Shear Madness” is currently scheduled to stage its last show — its 14,737th performance at the center — on Sunday night.
That’s because, at the behest of President Donald Trump, the Kennedy Center was set to close next month. Trump took control of the Kennedy Center after his inauguration, installing allies on the board, naming himself chairman and, in February, making the surprise announcement that the building would close for two years for “Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding.” While a federal judge last week ordered that Trump’s name be removed from the building and officials halt plans for the closure, “Shear” is still on track to shut down. ... “We’re finite,” says longtime assistant director Bob Lohrmann. “We used to be infinite.” ... “The horizon was off in the distance,” he adds. “But now, there is an endpoint to it.”
An endpoint to what became an institution and, like the monuments and the Potomac River, part of the backdrop of the nation’s capital. “Shear Madness” was D.C.’s theatrical wallpaper — always just there. And in its steadiness, the show became something more: a commercial success that attracted crowds from around the world, despite critical pans; the training ground and source of paychecks to generations of the region’s actors; an introduction to live theater for scores of teenagers; one of the nation’s longest-running nonmusical plays. It also became intertwined with its host. As Bruce Jordan, co-originator of the show, recalls being told by a Kennedy Center staffer, “It’s in the DNA of the building.” ... Administrations, politicians, unthinkable crises — 9/11, sniper attacks, a pandemic — have come and gone in D.C., and through it all, “Shear” endured. ... Until now, it seems. ... And when the last curtain closes, another national fixture will disappear amid Trump’s transformation of Washington — this one more collateral damage than intended target.
{snip}
By Elahe Izadi
Elahe Izadi is a staff writer for The Washington Post's Style section. Until recently, she co-hosted the former daily flagship podcast "Post Reports" and covered the media industry. She joined The Post in 2014 as a general assignment reporter, and has covered pop culture, Congress, breaking news and more.follow on X@ElaheIzadi
After 39 years and thousands of performances, the cast of the kooky whodunit will take their final bows.
Today at 5:00 a.m. EDT
“Shear Madness” is scheduled to stage its last show on Sunday night. (Al Drago/For The Washington Post)
By Elahe Izadi
On a recent Wednesday night, a swarm of teenagers on a class trip filed into a pristine theater at one of the world’s most vaunted cultural venues and sat down to solve a murder. ... Exactly as hundreds of their peers had done the night before. And the night before that. And almost every night during theatrical seasons for the past 39 years.
They were here for “Shear Madness,” the campy, topical-but-ultimately-inoffensive comedic whodunit that has been a mainstay at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since before some of their parents were born. ... And whether they knew it or not, they were likely some of the last to partake in a tradition of American theater. “Shear Madness” is currently scheduled to stage its last show — its 14,737th performance at the center — on Sunday night.
That’s because, at the behest of President Donald Trump, the Kennedy Center was set to close next month. Trump took control of the Kennedy Center after his inauguration, installing allies on the board, naming himself chairman and, in February, making the surprise announcement that the building would close for two years for “Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding.” While a federal judge last week ordered that Trump’s name be removed from the building and officials halt plans for the closure, “Shear” is still on track to shut down. ... “We’re finite,” says longtime assistant director Bob Lohrmann. “We used to be infinite.” ... “The horizon was off in the distance,” he adds. “But now, there is an endpoint to it.”
An endpoint to what became an institution and, like the monuments and the Potomac River, part of the backdrop of the nation’s capital. “Shear Madness” was D.C.’s theatrical wallpaper — always just there. And in its steadiness, the show became something more: a commercial success that attracted crowds from around the world, despite critical pans; the training ground and source of paychecks to generations of the region’s actors; an introduction to live theater for scores of teenagers; one of the nation’s longest-running nonmusical plays. It also became intertwined with its host. As Bruce Jordan, co-originator of the show, recalls being told by a Kennedy Center staffer, “It’s in the DNA of the building.” ... Administrations, politicians, unthinkable crises — 9/11, sniper attacks, a pandemic — have come and gone in D.C., and through it all, “Shear” endured. ... Until now, it seems. ... And when the last curtain closes, another national fixture will disappear amid Trump’s transformation of Washington — this one more collateral damage than intended target.
{snip}
By Elahe Izadi
Elahe Izadi is a staff writer for The Washington Post's Style section. Until recently, she co-hosted the former daily flagship podcast "Post Reports" and covered the media industry. She joined The Post in 2014 as a general assignment reporter, and has covered pop culture, Congress, breaking news and more.follow on X@ElaheIzadi