“Hamilton” star and creator Lin-Manuel Miranda used his acceptance speech at the 2016 Tony Awards to deliver a message of love in the face of Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando, Fla.
Miranda won the Tony for Best Score, and delivered his acceptance speech in the form of a sonnet. He started by thanking his wife before launching into a meditation on music and pride:
“We chase the melodies that tend to find us, until they’re finished songs and start to play,
when senseless tragedies remind us that nothing is here is promised, not one day.
This show is proof that history remembers, we live through times when hate and fear seem stronger.
We rise and fall as light through dying embers, remembrances that hope and love last longer.
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love, cannot be killed or swept aside.
I sing them as a sympathy, I live to tell their story. Now fill the world with music and love and pride.”
This year’s Tonys broadcast was dedicated to the friend and families of those were either killer or injured during the horror at Orlando gay nightclub Pulse. Fifty people were killed and 53 were injured, making it the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
“Hamilton” received a record 16 Tony nominations, and has already won multiple awards, including Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Renee Elise Goldsberry and Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Daveed Diggs.
