'Hamilton' Crowd Boos Pence: 'We Are The Diverse America Who Are Alarmed'
If Mike Pence was expecting an uneventful night out on the town, the hit Broadway show "Hamilton" gave him a rude awakening.
First, the vice president-elect was met by boos upon entering the Richard Rodgers Theatre in Manhattan for a performance of the critically acclaimed musical.
Then, at the conclusion of the performance, the cast of the musical gave a message to Donald Trump's VP.
The message was read by actor Brandon Victor Dixon, who said,
Vice President-elect Pence, we welcome you, and we truly thank you for joining us here at 'Hamilton: An American Musical.' We really do. We, sir, 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 that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us.
A video of Dixon reading the message was tweeted by the official account of "Hamilton." It has since been retweeted thousands upon thousands of times.
The cast's message is, of course, a continuation of a theme that has been much talked about since President-elect Trump won the White House: a fear that he would not govern for everyone.
Dixon, though, says he hopes his cast made a difference in speaking directly to Pence at the theatre. He told Broadway.com,
I saw him enjoying it with whoever he was with, and I hope he remembers us. I truly believe we had an effect. It was a message from the producers the creative and the cast. If you have differences, say something! What better place than on this stage telling this story with these people? I hope he thinks of us every time he has to deal with an issue or talk about a bill or present anything.
As for Trump? Well, he was not amused.
And as he so often does, the president-elect took to Twitter to voice his displeasure.
Dixon, for his part, defended the cast's message.
So yeah, it doesn't look like an apology is coming any time soon.
Citations: Donald Trump claims Hamilton cast HARASSED VP-elect Mike Pence and demands they apologize after audience booed him during show (DailyMail.com)