As Mike Pence sat in audience of Friday evening’s “Hamilton” performance, members of the Broadway musical’s cast had a special message for the Vice President-elect during the curtain call.
As the audience was applauding, actor Brandon Victor Dixon stepped forward and asked for the their attention.
“You know, we have a guest in the audience this evening,” he said referring to Pence — to which the audience laughed. “And Vice President-elect Pence, I see you walking out, but I hope you will hear us just a few more moments. There’s nothing to boo here, ladies and gentlemen. There’s nothing to boo here. We’re all here sharing a story of love. We have a message for you, sir. We hope that you will hear us out.”
Dixon encouraged people to take out their phones and record what he was about to say, “because this message needs to be spread far and wide.”
“Vice President-elect Pence, we welcome you, and we truly thank you for joining us here at ‘Hamilton: An American Musical.’ We really do,” Dixon said to further applause. “We, sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us. All of us. Again, we truly thank you truly for (sharing) this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds and orientations.”
The moment was captured on video and uploaded to the musical’s official Twitter account.
Tonight, VP-Elect Mike Pence attended #HamiltonBway. After the show, @BrandonVDixon delivered the following statement on behalf of the show. pic.twitter.com/Jsg9Q1pMZs
— Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) November 19, 2016
According to the Associated Press, Pence left the room before Dixon was finished speaking, but heard the full message as he stood in the hallway.
Soon after the incident made the rounds on social media, Donald Trump took to Twitter and slammed the musical’s cast and demanded an apology.
Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing.This should not happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
Even before the incident, Pence received a chilly reception throughout the night:
https://twitter.com/dkipke12/status/799802254794571777
According to the New York Times, “the statement that Mr. Dixon read was written by the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, its director, Thomas Kail, and the lead producer, Jeffrey Seller,” along with input from some of the cast.
“We had to ask ourselves, how do we cope with this?” Seller said.
“Our cast could barely go on stage the day after the election. The election was painful and crushing to all of us here. We all struggled with what was the appropriate and respectful and proper response. We are honored that Mr. Pence attended the show, and we had to use this opportunity to express our feelings.”
Featured image via Twitter
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