Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda won big at the 2016 Tony Awards, with countless cast members of the acclaimed musical picking up awards on Sunday night. The musical itself won a grand total of 11 Tonys. Miranda’s first ultra-personal victory of the night came by nabbing the “Best Original Score” award shortly after the show kicked off.
The Broadway superstar dispensed with a traditional speech of gratitude, instead choosing to deliver a powerful sonnet that touched on his personal triumphs and marked the passing of at least 50 people earlier that day at an LGBT club in Orlando. The mass shooting was the deadliest in U.S. history.
The Tony Awards have been dedicated to all affected by the tragedy. Miranda’s sonnet hit all the right notes of what the Tonys means to those in the theatre community as well as how such artistry transcends history itself, distilling what it means to be human in the movements, sound design, carpentry, and light work of the stage.
The sonnet reads as follows:
My wife’s the reason anything gets done
She nudges me towards promise by degrees
She is the perfect symphony of one
Our son is her most beautiful reprise
We chase the melodies that seem to find us
Until their finished songs then 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 live in times when heat and fear seem 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 and lisa tells her story
Now fill the world with music, love, and pride
