You probably didn’t need yet another reason to love every single thing about Hamilton, but I’m going to give you one anyway. Instead of striking on International Women’s Day, the cast donated their salaries to charity.
Wednesday was a two-show day for most of Broadway, so the majority of women who work onstage and backstage couldn’t participate in A Day Without a Woman, the nationwide strike organized by the Women’s March leaders. But that certainly didn’t stop the Hamilton cast members from honoring women on March 8 — and they put their money where their mouths are.
The cast donated their salaries from Wednesday evening’s performance to Dress for Success, a global nonprofit that’s dedicated to arming women with the tools to achieve economic independence and success. As one of their services, the organization provides women with job interview attire that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. Post-election, members of the not-so-secret Facebook group Pantsuit Nation donated their Election Day pantsuits to Dress for Success.
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Each Hamilton program on Wednesday evening had a special insert — a leaflet that read: "We would like to remind everyone that March is National Women's History Month and today is International Women's Day. In support of all women everywhere, a group of us at 'Hamilton' have chosen to donate our salaries from tonight's performance to Dress for Success, an international charity that supports women entering the workforce. We thank all the women in this building for being here today and celebrating with us."
Javier Munoz, who is better known as Alexander Hamilton these days, shared an image of the leaflet on Twitter and it quickly went viral as we all fell a little more in love with Hamilton. (Yeah, I didn’t think it was possible, either.)
According to theatergoers, female crew members (many of whom where dressed in red), came onstage for curtain call to say “Happy International Women’s Day” with the cast members. Elsewhere on Broadway, activists in the theater community organized a 5:30 p.m. rally that allowed actors and crew members to participate in between their afternoon and evening performances.
It may seem as though 2017 won’t let us have nice things, but hang in there guys — at least we have Hamilton and its amazing, woke cast members.