The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will honor “Hamilton’s” creative team, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, Andy Blankenbuehler and Alex Lacamoire, with a special honors distinction as part of the 41st Annual Kennedy Center Honors.
“Historically, the Kennedy Center Honors has celebrated lifetime achievement. In recognizing Hamilton and its co-creators, the Kennedy Center is making an unprecedented statement about an unprecedented work—a work that transcends cultural boundaries and tells America’s story in a powerful and contemporary way,” Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter said in the press release.
The “Hamilton” team will be honored alongside this year’s four lifetime honors recipients, singer and actor Cher, composer and pianist Philip Glass, country music singer Reba McEntire and jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter. The ceremony will be held on Dec. 2 at the Kennedy Center Opera House, where leading performers will pay tribute to the honorees in concert.
“The Kennedy Center Honors is the highest achievement an artist can receive. For the Board to break with its custom of honoring an individual and choosing instead to bestow this recognition on a single piece of work is humbling beyond our wildest expectations for our show,” Miranda, Kail, Blankenbuehler and Lacamoire said in a joint statement.
“I’m pretty sure Rita Moreno, mi reina, snuck into their offices and stuffed the ballot box,” Miranda added. Moreno was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2015.
The gala will be recorded for broadcast on CBS and will air in a two-hour special on Dec. 26 at 8 p.m. ET.
Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of White Cherry Entertainment, longtime producers of the Tony Awards, will produce the show.
