An end of an era. Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda took an emotional final bow at the Richard Rodgers Theater in New York City on Saturday, July 9, but declined to say any words even as the audience gave numerous standing ovations.
Miranda, 36, initially shared his bows with the rest of the cast, including fellow exiting cast members Phillipa Soo and Leslie Odom Jr. When the theme song to The West Wing struck up, however, Christopher Jackson, who plays George Washington, pushed Miranda to the front of the stage to take in the cheers and applause in their entirety.
The Broadway show was attended by a number of boldface names, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Jennifer Lopez, Spike Lee, Jane Fonda, Rosie O’Donnell, Charlie Rose and Mariska Hargitay.
According to the Associated Press, Rose called it “a majestic moment in the history of theater.”
After the show, fans stood out in the pouring rain in hopes of catching a glimpse of Miranda, but instead of exiting the stage door, the multihyphenate artist appeared on a balcony atop the theater’s marquee holding a blue-and-white umbrella.
Miranda wordlessly walked from one side of the marquee to the other, held his left hand over his heart, and then disappeared back into the theater.
Teach 'em how to say goodbye… pic.twitter.com/dJ49jUYHlh
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) July 10, 2016
Hamilton took home 11 Tony Awards in June, and Miranda earned a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant for his work in fusing politics and Broadway. It originally debuted Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in February 2015, then was transferred to Broadway in August 2015.
Several hours after the final curtain call, Miranda shared one black-and-white photo to Instagram, supposedly of his trademark long locks chopped off.
“Teach 'em how to say goodbye…” he captioned the photo.
