Mike Pence Receives Plea at Hamilton, Donald Trump Reacts

11/20/2016 mj santilli News 410

The cast of Hamilton addressed Vice President-elect Mike Pence with a powerful speech after he attended the Friday night performance of the hit hip-hop Broadway musical.

Check out the full speech here. It took place during the curtain call as Pence was leaving the theater.

“Vice president-elect, I see you walking out but I hope you will hear us,” said Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Aaron Burr. He told the audience, “There’s nothing to boo here, we’re all sharing a story of love.”

Rolling Stone has written up a thorough account of what happened at the performance HERE.

Pence and his entourage, including Secret Service and members of his family entered the Richard Rodgers Theater to a mixture of cheers and boos.

https://youtu.be/xdwFX4EwpZ4

From RS:

Throughout Friday’s performance, the audience responded loudly to key moments in Hamilton knowing that the conservative-leaning vice president who lobbied for anti-gay legislation in Indiana was in the building; actor Javier Munoz, who plays Alexander Hamilton since Miranda’s departure, is HIV-positive and gay.

Following the line, “Immigrants, we get the job done,” a minutes-long standing ovation broke out, and actor Rory O’Malley, who plays King George in the musical, had to stop his performances several times as the audience responded to lyrics like “When people say they hate you” and “Do you know how hard it is to lead,” lines O’Malley aimed toward Pence specifically.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the production received Pence’s request to attend the night’s performance earlier that afternoon. Here’s what producer Jeffrey Seller said that rather than rejecting his request opted for the curtain call speech. The statement was written with creator and former Hamilton actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Tommy Kail and the cast.

“The cast, the creators, we all felt that we must express our feelings to vice president-elect Pence. This is not a normal time, this is not a normal election. This has not been a normal result. And in a democracy, one must let his and her voice be heard, and we were not going to the show tonight without expressing how we feel,” said Seller. “Everybody should be able to see this show, regardless of their politics, but it does just so happen that the politics of this administration have been so negative toward minorities, people of color, gay people that we felt the need to speak up. As a cast comprised of minorities, women, gay people, it was necessary. We had to speak. We had to express how we feel.”

Miranda responded on twitter Friday night:

A president-elect with the ability to be the bigger man might have used this opportunity to extend an olive branch to his opponents. But no. This is Donald J. Trump we’re talking about. Saturday morning he does that thing he do–he rattled off a series of angry tweets, demanding the cast of Hamilton apologize.

And here’s a tweet posted hours later that was deleted afterward–probably by someone on Trump’s staff:

image-3

ETA: Trump tweeted about Hamilton AGAIN early Sunday morning.

Conveniently for Trump, the Hamilton kerfuffle has driven Friday’s big news off the front page. The president-elect SETTLED the various lawsuits against him from people who charge they were the victims of fraud via his “Trump University.” Trump will pay out $25 million to the plaintiffs, without having to admit to wrongdoing. Here’s the statement from the New York Attorney General:

In 2013, my office sued Donald Trump for swindling thousands of innocent Americans out of millions of dollars through a scheme known as Trump University. Donald Trump fought us every step of the way, filing baseless charges and fruitless appeals and refusing to settle for even modest amounts of compensation for the victims of his phony university. Today, that all changes. Today’s $25 million settlement agreement is a stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for the over 6,000 victims of his fraudulent university.

I am pleased that under the terms of this settlement, every victim will receive restitution and that Donald Trump will pay up to $1 million in penalties to the State of New York for violating state education laws. The victims of Trump University have waited years for today’s result and I am pleased that their patience–and persistence–will be rewarded by this $25 million settlement.

Trump couldn’t resist responding to the settlement in typical fashion.

About mj santilli 34830 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!
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