Lin-Manuel Miranda, winning his Tony Award for best score for "Hamilton," accepted in rhyme.
On a somber night for the Tony Awards, Lin-Manuel Miranda was, as expected, a big winner, as his musical “Hamilton” took home 11 awards. An emotional high point of the evening was Miranda’s acceptance of his award for best score — with a sonnet, dedicated to his wife Vanessa Nadal and movingly acknowledging the tragedy in Orlando.
My wife’s the reason anything gets done
She nudges me towards promise by degrees
She is a perfect symphony of one
Our son is her most beautiful reprise.
We chase the melodies that seem to find us
Until they’re finished songs and start to play
When senseless acts of tragedy remind us
That nothing here is promised, not one day.
This show is proof that history remembers
We lived through times when hate and fear seemed stronger;
We rise and fall and light from dying embers, remembrances that hope and love last longer
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside.
I sing Vanessa’s symphony, Eliza tells her story
Now fill the world with music, love and pride.
(This is why so many of us love the Tony Awards. Who accepts an Oscar with a sonnet?)
P.S. Wondering when we’ll see “Hamilton” in Seattle? Keep wondering. All we know now is that it’ll be part of the “Broadway at the Paramount” 2017/2018 season. Subscribers to that series’ 2016/2017 season will likely have first priority for “Hamilton” tickets.