New Jersey Stage 2017: Issue 2 | Page 15

There ’ s nothing to boo here . We ’ re all here sharing a story of love . We have a message for you , sir . We hope that you will hear us out .” “ Vice President-elect Pence , we welcome you , and we truly thank you for joining us here at ‘ Hamilton : An American Musical .’ We really do ,” Dixon said to further applause . “ We , sir , 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 . All of us . Again , we truly thank you truly for seeing this show , this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors , creeds and orientations .” Since that performance , we have seen members of the arts from Meryl Streep to Bruce Springsteen use their platform to send a message to the President . Some people have criticized the artists for doing so ; others have praised them . One thing is clear : people in the arts are not going to be silenced . If anything , this is the biggest test for the arts since the 1960s . Will it spur a new counter-culture revolution ? Since the winner of the election lost the popular vote by several million , are we actually talking about the counter-culture or the mainstream ? New Jersey Stage spoke to a pair of theatre artistic directors and a pair of playwrights to get their thoughts on theatre and politics and what the future might hold .

NJ STAGE 2017 - Vol . 4 No . 2

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