Mike Pence might think himself a fan of Broadway, but Broadway, at least, definitely does not reciprocate, as the Vice President-elect discovered tonight when he attended a performance of the smash hit musical Hamilton. As chronicled by dozens of other attendees on social media tonight, Pence’s appearance was met almost immediately with loud boos from the audience as he arrived in the theater. And that was just the beginning of a night that was eventually capped off with the cast directly addressing Pence with a heartfelt plea as he left at the end of the show.
Throughout the performance, the boos were frequent and loud, and as described by those in attendance, usually paired with the show’s music like a high-minded Rocky Horror Picture Show. Notably, during “You’ll Be Back (Reprise)” Pence was jeered at every line, and when the song came to “When your people say they hate you…”, multiple attendees said the show stopped for a full minute until the uproar died down. Other attendees noted that the audience gave a standing ovation to the line “Immigrants/we get the job done”, from “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)”. Pence was booed further still when he returned late after the intermission, entering the theater during the song “What’d I Miss”.
For those wondering how the the cast and crew felt about the spectacle, they made that clear when the show ended. “Vice President-elect, I see you walking out but I hope you will hear us,” said Brandon Victor Dixon, who took over the role of Aaron Burr from Leslie Odom, Jr. earlier this year. “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.”
“We hope you enjoyed the show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds and orientations. We truly hope that you heard our message sir, because [this] represents all of us,” Dixon concluded. Loud cheers from the audience followed.
Pence, who as Indiana Governor signed into law the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a law that until it was amended after national outcry allowed discrimination against gay people by private businesses, has not issued comment on the evening’s events.
