On Friday evening, Vice President-elect Mike Pence took a break from heading President-elect Donald Trump's White House transition and went to go see "Hamilton" on Broadway. It seems that even government officials can't stay away from the smash hit musical; although creator Lin-Manuel Miranda actively campaigned for Hillary Clinton during the election, Pence evidently still wanted to see what all the "Hamilton" hype was about.
But when the actors in the musical found out ahead of time that Pence would be in the audience, they prepared a few words for the Vice President-elect. They chose not to "boo" him like some of the other audience members did, but they did address a few of their concerns about Pence and Trump's platform following the night's performance.
"There's nothing to boo here, ladies and gentlemen," Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Aaron Burr in the musical, said when the audience initially started booing. "We're all here sharing a story of love."
"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," Dixon went on to say. "We truly thank you for sharing this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds and orientations."
Following the events, President-Elect Trump tweeted that the cast of "Hamilton" owes Pence an apology. He also tweeted, "the theater must always be a safe and special place." By the end of the night and early Saturday morning, #BoycottHamilton was trending on Twitter as supporters of Pence and Trump called for others to boycott the sold-out show.
Listen to the speech given by Brandon Victor Dixon below.