The cast of “Hamilton” will forgo the use of prop guns in its Tony Awards performance after a massacre at an Orlando, Florida gay night club that left 50 people dead.
CNN reports: “The cast will instead pantomime during its performance of ‘Yorktown (World Turned Upside Down),’ which recreates the Battle of Yorktown. The smash-hit musical tells the story of the American Revolution in hip-hop. A representative for ‘Hamilton’ did not say if the cast would otherwise mark Sunday morning’s shooting, which was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.”
“The muskets have been eliminated from tonight’s performance in light of today’s event in Orlando,” Sam Rudy, the show’s spokesman, told Deadline.
The news was tweeted out by New York Times‘ theater reporter Michael Paulson.
Breaking: Cast of @HamiltonMusical is dropping the use of muskets from their #TonyAwards performance tonight because of Orlando.
— Michael Paulson (@MichaelPaulson) June 12, 2016
“Our hearts are heavy for the unimaginable tragedy that happened last night in Orlando,” the Tony Awards producers said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those affected. The Tony Awards dedicate tonight’s ceremony to them.”
CBS will air the Tony Awards at 8 p.m. ET. “Hamilton” has 16 Tony nominations.
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