Two American vice presidents got into a small duel a few nights ago. Vice President-elect Mike Pence went to see “Hamilton: An American Musical” on Broadway, and his visit to the Richard Rodgers Theatre has since become national news.
That night, during curtain call Brandon Victor Dixon, the actor who plays the role of Vice President Aaron Burr, recited a short message written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of the musical and Jeffrey Seller, the producer. Basically, they said that they were scared Trump and Pence would not protect minorities, people like those that the show was made up of. Which you know, makes sense.
Here’s the actual message that was read out loud:
Donald Trump claims Mike Pence was verbally attacked by the theater. He thought the cast was very rude, but let’s be honest, were they?
Trump took his anger and threw it on social media, like usual. The president-elect said on Twitter that the cast “harassed” them and they should apologize. Not to mention he also said the musical was “highly overrated.”
Let’s not forget that this show is a story about an immigrant who America could not have been made great without. The cast members simply expressed real fears Americans are dealing with regarding Trump’s presidency. Fears about their safety and protection in this country. C’mon, if you were one of the performers in the show and he was sitting in front of you, would you throw away your shot to speak about this stuff.
The musical said that they don’t really have anything to apologize for. In an interview with CBS This Morning, Dixon said,
“We recognize that ‘Hamilton’ is inherently an American story told by a definition of the American community. We are men and women of different colors, creeds and orientations. The resonant nature of the show throughout the world, throughout the global community demands that we make statements when there are important issues, I think, facing us as a community. So we wanted to stand up and spread a message of love and of unity, considering all the emotion outpour since the election.”
The funniest part about this is that Pence left the theatre while they were addressing. He allegedly “listed to the full remarks from the hallway.” Pence also said that he enjoyed the show, noting the performers were very talented and ”Hamilton” is an incredible production about American history.
So, who will win this latest duel? That we don’t know, but let’s just hope that Hamilton sticks around long, long beyond the era of Trump.