The hit Broadway show Hamilton has morphed into a heckling forum against unpopular world leaders. After Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu walked the gauntlet of taunts when trying to enjoy the show back in September, Friday night it was Mike Pence's turn. The VP-elect not only heard his share of "boos," but also was treated to a special lecture from the cast at curtain call.
After taking his specially designated seat in the orchestra box, groundlings pelted Pence with a torrent of boos that subsided once the musical got underway. Unfortunately, that wasn't the worst abuse he received that night, as the cast saved the best for last at curtain call, when actor Brandon Victor Dixon – who plays Aaron Burr – recited the following message:
You know, we have a guest in the audience this evening. And Vice President-elect Pence, I see you walking out, but I hope you will hear us just a few more moments. There’s nothing to boo here, ladies and gentlemen. There’s nothing to boo here. We’re all here sharing a story of love. We have a message for you, sir. We hope that you will hear us out, because this message needs to be spread far and wide.
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, 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, sir.
But we truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us. All of us. Again, we truly thank you truly for seeing this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds and orientations.
Pence reportedly left the theater during Dixon's address, but being the decent man he is, listened to the remainder out in the hall.
According to Dixon, the address had been planned in advance once news of Pence's attendance became known to them, describing it as an inescapable opportunity.
"When we first got the call that [Pence] was coming, there was certainly a question of what we would do," Dixon told Broadway.com. "These are the opportunities that you die for."
"I truly believe we had an effect," he continued. "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."
The show's creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, as well as show producer Jeffrey Seller approved of the message beforehand, which indicates they think that harassing guests during their show is good business practice. Keep in mind, this is the second time in only two months a major world leader has been heckled at Hamilton, and given that the cast and crew have joined in on the fun, the makers clearly have no aversion to it.
Twitter has since exploded with people celebrating the cast's classless gesture, while others have made calls to #BoycottHamilton. President-elect Trump even demanded an apology:
Brandon Victor Dixon later responded to Trump, saying no apology will be made and that no harassment took place, but rather a "conversation."
If memory serves, a conversation typically involves two parties willingly exchanging ideas. Standing on a soapbox and talking down to a captive audience member who has no opportunity to respond during an inappropriate time at an inappropriate venue seems an awful lot like harassment.
Keep it up, leftists. This kind of classless virtue-signaling is why Americans are now saying "President-elect Trump" instead of "Madame President Hillary," and you'll be saying it for 8 years until you come to grips with that fact. Get out of your safe spaces and actually start having "conversations" with people unlike yourselves.