And what more perfect summit for the two Americas to demonstrate that we can agree on absolutely nothing-not manners, not meanings, not even a working definition of “the two Americas”-than Hamilton? To recap: On Friday night, Vice-President-Elect Mike Pence and his family went to see Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Pulitzer- and Tony-winning musical (“which I hear is highly overrated”-Donald Trump, 11/20/16). Pence was greeted by a mixture of applause and loud boos from the audience when he entered. During the performance, the always crowd-pleasing line “Immigrants-we get the job done!” got especially sustained applause, and King George’s “Do you know how hard it is to lead?” was received so thunderously, including with a partial mid-song standing ovation, that according to some audience members, actor Rory O’Malley had to gesture, in character, for silence so he could continue. And at the curtain call, actor Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Aaron Burr, read a statementprepared by Miranda, director Thomas Kail, and producer Jeffrey Seller in which the production welcomed Pence and said, “We, sir, are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us,” and added, “We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us.” Real talk, veep to veep.
Connect with us