House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had Lin-Manuel Miranda and cast members from Hamilton sing Dear Theodosia ahead of an event with historians...
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had Lin-Manuel Miranda and cast members from Hamilton sing Dear Theodosia ahead of an event with historians marking the one-year anniversary of the January 6 Capitol attack Thursday afternoon.
'We are privileged to have a contribution from one of the great creative talents of our time, Lin-Manuel Miranda,' Pelosi said. 'May his beautiful words be an inspiration to us,' she added.
Pelosi, standing at a podium in one of the large House committee rooms, then turned the floor over to Miranda and the Broadway singers, who performed the tune over Zoom.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had Lin-Manuel Miranda and cast members from Hamilton sing Dear Theodosia ahead of an event with historians marking the one-year anniversary of the January 6 Capitol attack Thursday afternoon
Lin-Manuel Miranda briefly appeared via Zoom at a Capitol Hill event hosted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi marking the one-year anniversary of the MAGA attack
Singers from Hamilton took turns singing Dear Theodosia, which in the Broadway musical is sang by Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, about their respective children, Theodosia Burr Alston and Philip Hamilton growing up in a young United States
'They were all very honored to be asked to participate today,' Pelosi said.
In the play, the song is sang by Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, about their respective children, Theodosia Burr Alston and Philip Hamilton.
The song has also been notably performed by artists Ben Folds and Regina Spektor at the Kennedy Center.
In her introduction, Pelosi quoted the lyrics from the song, which discusses the promise of a young United States.
'We'll make it right for you, if we lay a strong enough foundation. We'll pass it on to you, we'll give the world to you,' the California Democrat recited.
Of course, Hamilton and Burr's story doesn't end with across-the-aisle camaraderie, as Burr, while he was serving as vice president, famously killed Hamilton in a duel.
In his opening remarks, Miranda said the new year 'brings hope for the future, new energy to face the tasks ahead of us, and a renewed promise to strengthen the foundations of our democracy.'
'We are all stewards of the American experiment,' he continued. 'Working to pass down to our children, and our grandchildren, a more perfect union, that treats all its citizens with fairness and liberty.'
Miranda said Americans should never take their rights and liberties for granted and needed to 'remain committed to finding a way forward together.'
'That's what I wrote about in the song Dear Theodosia in Hamilton,' Miranda explained.
'I believe no challenge is worth abandoning our efforts as Americans,' Miranda also said. 'We'll keep working, generation after generation, until we reach that someday.'
The Democrats gathered in the room clapped at the conclusion of the performance.
'Somehow the arts have a way of saying things in a way that connects, that we could not do any other way, and that's why I thought it was really important to have the arts lead us in this discussion,' Pelosi noted.
January 6 remembrances on Capitol Hill included speeches first thing in the morning by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
At noon, there were moments of silence on the floor of both the House and the Senate.
After the Hamilton performance, historians including Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham were led in discussion by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.
Democrats were overwhelmingly the participants in Thursday's events.
Many Senate Republicans were in Georgia at the funeral of the late Sen. Johnny Isakson.
However, GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, a member of the House select committee investigating January 6 and a vocal Trump critic, attended the moment of silence on the House floor.
Cheney brought along her dad, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was critical of his party for not taking the threat posed by January 6 more seriously.
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