NEW YORK -- President-elect Donald Trump demanded an apology from the cast of the Broadway musical Hamilton a day after an actor in the hit show delivered a message about diversity to Trump's running mate, who was in attendance.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence caught Friday night's performance of Hamilton with his nephew and daughter. A mixture of boos and cheers could be heard inside the theater as Pence took his seat. When the show ended, Pence was asked by a cast member to hear a prepared speech after the curtain call from the multiracial and multicultural cast, saying it is concerned about the Trump administration.
"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," said Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Aaron Burr, the nation's third vice president, as his fellow actors joined hands. "We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us."
The unusual address quickly went viral, and Trump on Saturday tweeted that it was "very rude," arguing that Pence was "harassed" and that the theater "must always be a safe and special place." He urged the cast to apologize. Dixon responded on Twitter that "conversation is not harassment sir" and added that he appreciated that Pence stopped to listen.
Pence had ducked out before Dixon finished the message, but he heard the full remarks from the hallway outside the auditorium.
Trump transition officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A representative for the show said none of the cast members would be available to speak Saturday.
The statement from the Hamilton cast was a breach of theater protocol. Rarely if ever do actors onstage directly address a member of the audience. The actors, with guidance from the show's creators and producers, chose to wait until the show had ended and they had taken their bows before breaking the wall between performers and audience. They did so, they said, because it was such a tense and anxious time for the country and because they thought they would be remiss in not taking an opportunity to address Pence directly.
The address was criticized by many who viewed the statement -- and the booing of Pence by some theatergoers -- as out of line. Even some artists criticized the Hamilton statement. Musician Steven Van Zandt, a bandmate of Bruce Springsteen's, wrote on Twitter on Saturday: "You don't single out an audience member and embarrass him from the stage. A terrible precedent to set."
Melissa Kremholz of Indianapolis, the capital of Pence's home state of Indiana, attended the show Friday night and was seeing it again Saturday afternoon. She said she could see how Dixon's speech might be interpreted as impolite and gave Pence credit for hearing it, but she backed the Broadway cast's right to say how it feels.
"I think it was really important for them to speak what they had to say because the whole musical talks about how our country came to be and our American values and how our country was built on immigrants and people of all different backgrounds," she said. "I think it's really important that they actually spoke their minds, and I think they did so very respectfully, too."
The show's official Facebook page was inundated with comments alling Dixon's speech "disrespectful," "inappropriate" and "uncalled for." Many threatened to not buy tickets to future performances. Hamilton was already sold out through September 2017.
The American Civil Liberties Union weighed in on the side of the Broadway cast, saying the First Amendment is a cornerstone of America "even if it sometimes makes our leaders uncomfortable."
"President-elect Trump needs a refresher on his high school civics class. Americans don't apologize -- not even to presidents or vice presidents -- for the lawful and proper exercise of their constitutional rights," ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero wrote in a statement.
But Noel Leifer of Manchester, N.J., who was in line to see a matinee Saturday with his wife, Peggy, said he understood why so many people were upset that Broadway actors lectured the next vice president.
"It was a protest. It was a bit disrespectful. They are going to be the leaders of the country. I didn't vote for them -- I think they're poor candidates -- but they're still going to be leaders," said Leifer, who was celebrating his wife's birthday with tickets he bought a year ago.
As for a boycott of the show, he didn't think that would fly. "I don't think too many people who have spent the money for this show are going to boycott it just to make a protest statement."
The musical is by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the story, music and lyrics. It stresses the orphan, immigrant roots of first U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, and it has been praised for its varied score and multicultural cast.
Miranda, in a tweet, said he was "proud" of Dixon and the Hamilton cast "for leading with love," before reminding people that everyone is welcome at the theater.
Miranda had been a booster for the failed presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, and the cast put on a special Hamilton show at a Clinton fundraiser last summer.
The person playing Alexander Hamilton in the performance that Pence saw was Javier Munoz, a gay actor. As governor of Indiana, Pence supported efforts to ban gay marriage, and opposed unfettered federal funding for HIV and AIDS treatment.
Jeffrey Seller, the musical's lead producer, said the plea to Pence was written by him, Miranda and show director Thomas Kail, with contributions from cast members.
In an interview after the show, he said the statement was written after the cast learned that Pence was going to attend that night's performance.
"We had to ask ourselves, 'How do we cope with this?'" Seller said. "Our cast could barely go onstage the day after the election. The election was painful and crushing to all of us here. We all struggled with what was the appropriate and respectful and proper response. We are honored that Mr. Pence attended the show, and we had to use this opportunity to express our feelings."
Information for this article was contributed by Mark Kennedy of The Associated Press and by Patrick Healy of The New York Times.
A Section on 11/20/2016