'Hamilton' Cast's Appeal to Pence Ignites Showdown With Trump - New York Times
Mr. Trump framed the cast’s appeal as a violation of “a safe and special place” — borrowing a favored phrase of the left and of campus protesters; it was not clear whether he did so derisively or in earnest.
His maneuver, in two posts to Twitter early Saturday, stunned the cast members and, judging by social media, jolted many Americans who are worried about the president-elect’s tolerance for dissent after a campaign in which he was criticized for inflaming racial tensions. But it also touched off reaction among other Americans who treasure the traditions of, and respect for, the office of the presidency, and viewed the statement — and the booing of Mr. Pence by some theatergoers before the performance — as out of line.
On Saturday, one supporter of Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter that the “Hamilton” statement was “a staged hit job.” Another wrote that actors should never “humiliate a member of the audience.”
Even some artists said it was wrong to deliver a surprise political message to an audience member after curtain call. “You don’t single out an audience member and embarrass him from the stage,” the musician Steven Van Zandt, a bandmate of Bruce Springsteen’s, wrote on Twitter. “A terrible precedent to set.”
Mr. Pence’s “Hamilton” seats were bought, not provided by the production as complimentary seats, according to two people with knowledge of the transaction.
Matt Borges, the chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, who was often critical of Mr. Trump this year, said that though he would always support free expression, he was dismayed that the left was demanding respect from Mr. Pence while lecturing him disrespectfully in the eyes of many on the right.
“It never ceases to amaze me how liberals desire acceptance and diversity for everything except political philosophy,” he said.
But many theater artists cheered the “Hamilton” cast on Saturday. “The theater will always be a place that encourages self-expression and free thinking — which is exactly what makes the art form so vital and, frankly, exciting,” said Heather Hitchens, president of the American Theater Wing, a nonprofit that supports the arts and helps oversee the Tony Awards.
“Hamilton,” itself a deeply political show about the United States as a nation of immigrants — with black or Hispanic actors playing George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers — has been celebrated by President Obama, Hillary Clinton and many other Democrats, as well as Republicans including former Vice President Dick Cheney.
The “Hamilton” company learned late Friday that Mr. Pence and his family members would be attending that night’s performance. The show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and others discussed the appropriateness of making a statement from the stage and decided to do it only after the show was over. Remarks were written and refined, and after curtain call, Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Vice President Aaron Burr, took a microphone and pointed toward Mr. Pence.
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Andres Kudacki/Associated Press
“You know, we have a guest in the audience this evening — Vice President-elect Pence, I see you walking out but I hope you hear just a few more moments,” Mr. Dixon said. As some in the audience booed, Mr. Dixon hushed them, then added, “Sir, we hope that you will hear us out.”
As Mr. Pence stood by the exit doors, Mr. Dixon said, “We, sir, 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 to work on behalf of all of us. All of us.”
The “Hamilton” episode is the first major collision between the two Americas brought into sharp relief by the Nov. 8 election.
The values and politics championed by the cast are in conflict with the remarks and actions of Mr. Trump, who has called for deporting undocumented immigrants, has declined to forcefully denounce expressions of bigotry among his allies and has so far appointed only white men to major cabinet positions. He has also pledged to change libel laws and sue news media organizations whose coverage he does not like, and he has demonized street protesters who have criticized him.
Although Mr. Pence listened to the entreaty inside the Richard Rodgers Theater on Friday and then stepped onto the sidewalk smiling, Mr. Trump took time out of preparing his new cabinet on Saturday to rally his supporters. Around 9 a.m. he wrote two Twitter posts saying the “Hamilton” actors had harassed Mr. Pence and had been “very rude last night to a very good man.”
“Apologize!” Mr. Trump wrote.
Mr. Dixon, who read the statement after playing the nation’s third vice president, quickly replied with a post of his own: “@realDonaldTrump conversation is not harassment sir. And I appreciate @mike_pence for stopping to listen.”
Mr. Trump lashed out at the show, the most acclaimed Broadway production in years, at a time of demonstrations against his coming presidency. Those include frequent street protests outside Trump Tower along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, which is less than a mile from the theater showing “Hamilton.” The president-elect has both castigated the protesters and, after being chided for doing so, praised them for their passion. Advisers, however, say he has been frustrated by the suspicion and hostility that the demonstrators and other Americans continue to hold about his election.
Mr. Trump’s escalation of the “Hamilton” matter also came a day after his $25 million settlement of a lawsuit against Trump University, leading some critics to claim online that he was trying to create a distraction amid negative attention to his surrender on a legal case he had vowed to fight.
Some Republican strategists said they were not surprised that Mr. Trump chose to attack “Hamilton,” noting that the president-elect believed deeply in trying to project strength in the face of any kind of opposition.
“President-elect Trump is signaling that he will fight for his team and his policies,” said Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and a strong Trump supporter. “Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would have approved,” a reference to the former conservative leader in Britain who often tangled with artists and the left.
But other Republicans said Mr. Trump’s posts on Twitter were inappropriate.
“Fidelity to the First Amendment is an absolute requirement for an American president,” said Steve Schmidt, a veteran Republican strategist who advised John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. “The address from the cast was respectful, but even if it wasn’t, they have a right to say it.”
The statement from the “Hamilton” cast on Friday was, on one level, a breach of theater protocol: Rarely if ever do actors on stage directly address a member of the audience and throw down a gauntlet like Mr. Dixon and his castmates did. The actors, with guidance from the show’s creators and producers, chose to wait until the show had ended and they had taken their bows before breaking the wall between performers and audience. They did so, they said, because it was such a tense and anxious time for the country, and because they thought they would be remiss in not taking an opportunity to address Mr. Pence directly.
The still-simmering tensions over the election seemed close at hand. Mrs. Clinton, who held a fund-raiser at a “Hamilton” performance this summer, embraced many of the values and views that the cast members described. Mr. Trump, who loves the theater music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and invested in a Broadway play early in his career, is otherwise not in sync with the liberal political outlook of many in the theater world — at least since he adopted sharply more conservative positions recently after many years as a socially liberal New Yorker.
The first lady, Michelle Obama, described “Hamilton” as “the best piece of art in any form that I have ever seen in my life,” and President Obama held a fund-raiser at a “Hamilton” performance. Mr. Miranda was an outspoken supporter of Mrs. Clinton’s during the presidential race, saying in July, “Are you going to vote for the guy who wants to build a wall, or for someone who’s building bridges?”
The plea to Mr. Pence was written by Mr. Miranda; the show’s director, Thomas Kail; and the lead producer, Jeffrey Seller, with contributions from cast members, according to Mr. Seller. In an interview after the show, Mr. Seller said he learned “very late that Mr. Pence was coming to the show, and the creative team and cast members quickly reckoned with how to respond.”
“We had to ask ourselves, ‘How do we cope with this?’” Mr. Seller said. “Our cast could barely go on stage the day after the election. The election was painful and crushing to all of us here. We all struggled with what was the appropriate and respectful and proper response. We are honored that Mr. Pence attended the show and we had to use this opportunity to express our feelings.”
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