Lin-Manuel Miranda, the man who famously rapped his acceptance speech when he won the Tony for best original score in 2008 for In the Heights, unsurprisingly won the same award again last night, this time for wildly successful Hamilton. Needless to say, expectations for his acceptance speech were sky high.
Those who were expecting another rap were disappointed when Miranda announced that this year, he went for a different approach: a sonnet. Clearly emotional, the writer, composer and star of Hamilton talked about his wife and son, but more importantly, he discussed the tragedy that took place in Orlando the night before.
My wife’s the reason anything gets done
She nudges me towards promise by degrees
She is a perfect symphony of one,
Our son is her most beautiful reprise
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
We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger
We rise and fall and light from dying embers
Remembrances that hope and love lasts long
And love is 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, Eliza tells her story
Now fill the world with music love and pride
With this poetic note to the senseless crime against LGBTQ+ people in Orlando, this just might take the cake for most wonderful acceptance speech ever, and we cannot wait to see what Miranda’s next acceptance speech will be like – but we have no doubt it will be incredible.
You can watch a video of the speech below. Don’t forget to tell us what you think over at @CelebMix on Twitter!
https://youtu.be/4FnAvhvZXdo