Most expected the 2016 Tonys ceremony to be a coronation for the runaway phenomenon Hamilton and its creators and stars. But in the early morning, only hours before the show, the Pulse nightclub shooting took 49 lives in Orlando in the deadliest attack on the LGBTQ+ community in history (and, at the time, the deadliest mass shooting in American history). The Broadway community, with its longtime closeness to the LGBTQ+ community, pivoted the ceremony to address the grief while celebrating art, and nowhere was this more evident than in the final lines of Lin-Manuel Miranda's sonnet as acceptance speech for best score:
"When senseless acts of tragedy remind us
"that nothing here is promised, not one day.
"This show is proof that history remembers.
"We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger.
"We rise and fall and light from dying embers.
"Remembrances that hope and love live longer.
"And love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside."