Update 10:46 p.m.: During its performance of "History Has Its Eyes on You" and "Yorktown," the Hamilton cast went without the guns it usually uses as props. This decision was a statement in solidarity with the Orlando victims, The New York Times tweeted.
Update 9:05 p.m.: Lin-Manuel Miranda recited a poem about the tragedy during an acceptance speech. "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," the poem went. "We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger / We rise and fall and light from dying embers, remembrances that hope and love last longer."
Update 9:05 p.m.: Lin-Manuel Miranda recited a poem about the tragedy during an acceptance speech. "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," the poem went. "We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger / We rise and fall and light from dying embers, remembrances that hope and love last longer."
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This story was originally posted on June 12 at 9:00 p.m. EDT.
#TonyAwards: James Corden welcomes trans youth to Broadway in opening number https://t.co/uvZKLVh3Ft https://t.co/gIBYMjSlfy
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 13, 2016
In his introduction to the Tony Awards, James Corden paid tribute to the victims and survivors of the Orlando, FL, nightclub shooting that took place Sunday morning. "All around the world, people are trying to come to terms with the horrific events that took place in Orlando this morning,” he said in a speech recorded before the ceremony, Entertainment Weekly reported. “All we can say is you are not on your own right now. Your tragedy is our tragedy. Theater is a place where every race, creed, sexuality, and gender is equal, embraced, and loved. Hate will never win. Together, we have to make sure of that." Several of the nominees also spoke about the tragedy before the awards. Kristin Chenoweth, Vanessa Hudgens, Randi Zuckerberg, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Jenna Ushkowitz shared their reactions on Instagram. Chenoweth and Ushkowitz expressed solidarity with the LGBT community with rainbow images.
"I don't understand how there can be so much hate in the world," wrote Hudgens. "Violence never fixes issues."
"We can't let one monster's senseless acts destroy this evening and the joy that tonight's nominees should be feeling for their achievements," wrote Zuckerberg.
Ferguson called for gun control reform in response to the shooting.
Kathy Ramsberger, president and CEO of Orlando's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts; Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer; and Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs thanked Broadway for supporting Orlando's community after the incident.
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