Nancy Pelosi introduces Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton cast for virtual performance during Jan. 6 reflection

We might not have been in "The Room Where It Happened," but we're sure cringing all the same.

On today of all days, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) introduced Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and the show's cast for — wait for it — a prerecorded virtual performance of "Dear Theodosia," which was then played during the Jan. 6 rememberance event on Capitol Hill.

Though Miranda's part was new, the performance itself was reportedly recorded a while ago. Democrats applauded once the video concluded, while Pelosi noted "it was important to have the arts as part of this."

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But perhaps unsurprisingly ... not everyone agreed. While some online bystanders were just downright confused by the choice to feature Miranda and his cast of performers in the ceremony, others feared the video's jovial, musical tone made light of the Capitol attack.

Safe to say the performance really did blow us all away ... just not in the way Democrats and Pelosi had hoped.

Brigid Kennedy

Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.