News

Why the Boos at Broadway’s Beloved ‘Hamilton’? Because Bibi.

Image by Facebook

By Daniel J. Solomon September 27, 2016

Getting in to see “Hamilton” is hard enough. But on Saturday night, the ticket line turned into a security check at Ben-Gurion Airport, as Benjamin Netanyahu attended the Broadway hit.

Visiting New York for a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, the Israeli premier detoured to Richard Rodgers Theater to see the famed musical, and brought with him a retinue of handlers.

That irked some of his fellow spectators, who suffered through long wait-times at the door and had to go through body scanners. “The show started late because of his arrival — the heightened security slowed down seating,” kvetched one to the New York Post. “But he still entered and sat down before the lights went down, so everyone was focused on him. There was a lot of applause when he walked in, but definitely a few loud boos.”

Some of those boos, it appeared, had to do with the fraught situation in the Middle East. The Daily Mail reported that two women stormed out of the venue when he came in, screaming “Free Palestine.”

Other V.I.P.s have snaked the line at “Hamilton,” a show that celebrates the rags-to-riches ascent of the United States’ first treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton. With the Secret Service in tow, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton attended performances earlier in the year, when the musical still featured its original cast.

Contact Daniel Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @danieljsolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO