With a pointed finger, Hamilton's Brandon Victor Dixon respectfully addressed Vice President-elect Mike Pence at curtain call after last night's performance. Pence, who attended the smash Broadway show from Lin-Manuel Miranda, was booed by some and cheered by others upon his entry into Richard Rodgers Theater. And according to various reports, lines like "Immigrants — we get the job done!" received ovations.
Here's Pence getting booed as he gets to his seats at Hamilton pic.twitter.com/IRQG68x1sB
— David K (@dkipke12) November 19, 2016
According to Broadway.com, the cast called Miranda and producer Jeffrey Seller 30 minutes before curtain, after they had been informed that Pence would be in the audience. The team came up with an impromtu message for the vice president-elect, which Dixon read to deafening applause at curtain call.
"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," he said, stopping intermittently to quiet the rowdy audience. "We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us."
Unfortunately, unlike the acts of violence that erupted across the country in his name before and after his election, President-elect Donald Trump heard about Dixon's speech and was displeased enough to publicly condemn the message and demand an apology.
None— Supervisor Catherine Stefani (@Supervisor Catherine Stefani) 1479617164
None— Dave Hamilton (@Dave Hamilton) 1479563872
Just to make this crystal clear, the president-elect is demanding an apology from the creative team behind the most political production on Broadway, and Vice President-elect Pence was in no danger. (See the video above where he's escorted in by professional security.)
According to the Associated Press, he didn't even stick around for Dixon's address.
As pointed out by Buzzfeed legal editor Chris Geidner, the president-elect's demand for an apology doesn't exactly fall in line with one of the country's founding ideas: the First Amendment.
And in a twisted way, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich articulated exactly what the message means.
So, no. An apology is not in order and will likely not be delivered. Dixon's message was respectful and more than called for. If the president-elect and vice president-elect are smart about this, in the future they won't make such easy targets of themselves by attending plays that focus on issues they themselves are on the opposing side of.
