In their performance for the Tony Awards on Sunday night — broadcast on CBS — the cast of “Hamilton” did not use prop muskets, a move to honor families of he victims of the morning’s deadly mass shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
Broadway news website Playbill.com reported the decision by the cast earlier Sunday.
“Hamilton” choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler explained his reasoning to reporters on the red carpet outside the Beacon Theatre prior to the awards program.
“I don’t know if people have noticed this, but the ending of [the musical number] ’Battle of Yorktown’ is the first time the American forces [in the play] ever put guns in their hands, so to go through the whole show with no guns, and then the moment they win — they have guns in their hands, and they immediately put them down. … The moment of putting them down is actually one of my favorite moments in the show,” Playbill quoted the 46-year-old Broadway veteran.
“That’s America to me,” Mr. Blankenbuehler said. “That’s the American Revolution. That’s our America today. It’s not taking up arms; it’s wanting to put them down so that things can be right. I think that our decision to take out the guns today followed into that.”
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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