Since it first premiered on Broadway in 2015, Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit musicalHamilton has been making headlines. The acclaimed show tells the story of the founding fathers with a cast made up almost entirely of actors of color. It shares history through the lens of what America looks like today.
This past weekend, Hamilton made headlines for another reason. When vice president-elect Mike Pence saw the show this past Friday, the cast made a statement after curtain calls, reminding Pence to speak for all Americans. The next morning, president-elect Trump criticized the cast on Twitter, calling them "very rude," demanding that they apologize, and saying that "The Theater must always be a safe and special place."
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While this is true in one regard - Broadway has always been a safe place because its core beliefs are diversity and acceptance of all people - Trump is mistaken in his view of theater as a safe place. The theater is not meant to be a place where the audience is entertained for two hours and then goes about their daily lives unaffected. A good piece of theater is meant to make the audience think and challenge their beliefs. Here are five examples of theater that make strong statements about history, present times, or both:
1. South Pacific (1949)
The story of South Pacific centers around Nellie Forbush, an American nurse stationed on an island in the South Pacific during World War II, and her relationship with a French plantation owner. Though Nellie loves him, she struggles to accept his two half-Polynesian children, who he had with a former wife. Meanwhile, a love affair forms between an American soldier, Lieutenant Cable, and Liat, a woman native to the island. Cable sings one of the most poignant songs in the musical - and one of the most controversial at the time - about the struggle for social acceptance of his relationship. "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" is a piercing statement of how hatred forms at a young age, and it's as relevant today as ever. South Pacific grappled with the difficult topic of racism well before its time.
2. Cabaret (1966)
Cabaret tells the story of Cliff Bradshaw, an American writer in Berlin, and the Kit Kat Klub, a nightclub led by a seedy Emcee, during the early rise of the Nazi regime. Cliff falls in love with Sally, a singer at the Kit Kat Klub; though everything seems fine at first, Cliff grows increasingly concerned about political developments throughout the musical. Meanwhile, as prejudice spreads and relationships fall apart around them, Sally remains as blithe and carefree as ever - "But what has that to do with us?" A major theme in Cabaret is indifference when faced with the threat of a fascist government; apathy and unwillingness to speak out led to the rise of the Nazis.
3. Hair (1968)
Making its off-Broadway debut in 1967 and its Broadway debut in 1968, Hair is a musical by and for hippies. It spends the first act introducing various characters in the "tribe" and their philosophies on life. The second act, which vaguely resembles a plot, details a dream sequence-style LSD trip, with heavy symbolism in the form of historical figures and gruesome wartime images. Beneath all the drugs, sex, and other mischief is a very real concern about getting drafted into the Vietnam War. The tribe protests and burns their draft cards because they do not want to fight for a cause they don't believe in. Hair explores various themes that define the hippie movement but are still relevant today, including pacifism, race, sexual freedom and drug use.
4. Rent (1996)
Rent focuses on a group of friends living in the East Village in the early '90s. Many of the main characters are members of the LGBT community, and many suffer from the AIDS epidemic that plagued countless Americans during that time. Rent also touches upon issues such as poverty and drug abuse. One of the main lessons of Rent is that all people should be treated with compassion, love and acceptance, no matter their identity or circumstances. Similarly to Hair, Rent acts as a portrayal of the culture and time in which it was written; its characters encapsulate the ideals and struggles of the Bohemians of the Lower East Side.
5. Spring Awakening (2006)
Based on a German play written in 1890, Spring Awakening focuses on a group of sexually repressed teenagers in a strict and prudish society. It deals with a slew of taboo subjects, including rape, abortion, and homosexuality; its overarching message, though, is that restricting access to information can have harmful and devastating effects on young people trying to figure out who they are. This is as relevant today as it was in the late 1800s. Deaf West's recent production, which had a limited run on Broadway from September 2015 to January 2016, made it even more relevant and thematically intricate by incorporating American Sign Language into the choreography - giving a voice to the voiceless.
