On June 12, 2016, in Orlando, Florida, 49 people were killed at a gay nightclub, “Pulse,” becoming the deadliest mass shooting in the United States at the time. Just a few hours later, the 70th annual Tony Awards began in New York.
The show’s host, James Corden, opened by dedicating the night to the victims of the shooting with a message to the audience: “Theater is a place where every race, creed, sexuality and gender is equal, is embraced and is loved. Hate will never win. Together, we have to make sure of that.” Understanding that the terrible tragedy was at the forefront of many viewers’ minds, Corden used his platform to spread a message of acceptance for the LGBT community, which was massively affected by the horrific act of hatred that had taken place earlier that morning. Frank Langella, who won Best Lead Actor in a Play, and Barbra Streisand, who presented an award, also addressed the tragedy and offered condolences, but one of the most memorable tributes to the victims was from Lin-Manuel Miranda during his “Best Score” acceptance speech.
Miranda’s speech begins as a love poem to his wife, Vanessa, but morphs into an elegy for the victims of the Pulse shooting. He demonstrates the urgency of addressing hatred and accepting those around us not just through the content of his speech, but by varying his pace and strongly emphasizing certain words and phrases. Miranda uses emotional appeals to get his point across: “love is love is love is love.” As he repeats this phrase over and over, he gets increasingly emotional – almost to the point of tears. Seeing him get choked up, as he clearly remembers the senseless tragedy that had just occurred, affects the audience in a way that a logical appeal would never be able to. To me, nothing in this speech was lacking. The first time I watched this video, I came close to tears. Seeing how deeply Lin-Manuel Miranda was affected by the tragedy and how impassioned and fervent he was when repeating “love is love is love” affected me very strongly.
After seeing this speech, I believe that many people felt the same way as I did. “By the time he was finished,” Rolling Stone wrote, “there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.” June 12, 2016 was a very emotional day for many people, especially those in the LGBT community. If Lin-Manuel Miranda had made this same speech months later, his audience might not have connected it to the Pulse shooting and therefore, would not have been as affected by his emotional appeals. Seizing upon the kairos of this moment, Miranda was able to use his platform at the Tony Awards to spread a message of love and support to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting as well as the rest of the LGBT community.
I remember watching this speech happen. Lin-Manuel Miranda never ceases to amaze me, and that night was no exception. His words for his wife were beautiful, and those concerning the Pulse victims were equally if not even more emotional. And he spoke the whole thing in verse! The tragedy being fresh on everyone’s minds certainly added to the lasting effect of his speech. Being a part of the theatre community myself, I’ve seen firsthand how open and accepting everyone is. No matter your background, theatre welcomes you with open arms, as should the rest of the world.
Just reading through this post and the ways you described the speech given by Lin-Manuel Miranda pulls heartstrings. It is so hard for society to talk about issues regarding sexual orientation and love life, to simply have respect for another’s opinions and beliefs is a change that will hopefully improve in future generations. Listening to the words he spoke and seeing the impact his speech had clearly demonstrated the sympathetic appeal drawn as the audience is moved to tears.