Artists, elected officials, and community leaders gathered outside of Off-Broadway's Pubic Theater January 31 for "The People's Filibuster," an event in support of the people of Minnesota, and a protest against ICE. At the eight-hour event, nearly 200 people (among them Tony winners and elected officials) provided short speeches, reflections, and songs. See the full livestream, now archived, in the video above.

Musical performances included Laura Benanti performing "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music, Shaina Taub performing her original song "Huddled Masses," Nikki M. James performed "Wait My Turn" from Taub's musical Suffs, and Michael Cerveris performed “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Sara Bareilles also performed a new original song, "Heartland"—which began with the lyrics: "I am a woman / I am a gift / I stand on the edge of promise so you know where it is / Give me your tired and poor / Trying to be free / Oh huddled masses just asking for mercy / Bring them all to me / I am the woman you make of me in the heart land."

The event—attended by almost 3,000 people in person with 12,000 views online—comes amidst a controversial expansion of immigration enforcement by ICE. The federal agency has descended upon Minnesota and other U.S. cities, carelessly capturing and detaining without due process undocumented immigrants, legal residents, U.S. citizens and even U.S. citizens; entering homes without warrants ; and pepper spraying protesters in the face. The people of Minnesota have protested in response to what many characterize as unconstitutional and illegal conduct, including the killing of at least two U.S. citizens: Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. 

Public Theater Executive Director Patrick Willingham kicked off the event, saying in his remarks: “We gather on these steps today because something has broken in the contract between a government and its people ... These are our fellow human beings, no matter the color of our skin or where we were born. People with every right to breathe the air of this country, to walk its streets, to dream of life’s possibilities, to participate fully in our society…and simply to live in this country that aspires to the ideals of liberty and justice for all.” He also noted, of the freezing temperatures outside, “It’s cold out! And it’s been even colder in the streets of Minneapolis where people have been standing for weeks, mobilizing for justice and to protect their neighbors.”

The "People's Filibuster" included speeches and performances from a wide array of guests. To name just a few of the spoken word performances: Peter Dinklage recited National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman's poem for Renée Nicole Good, who was shot and killed through the window of her car by an ICE agent on January 8. Christine Baranski recited an excerpt from George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, and Joe Tippett read Emma Lazurus' "The New Colossus."

Cynthia Nixon read Václav Havel's "The Power of the Powerless," which reads: "To live in truth is simply to refuse to participate in what we know to be false. It is to speak plainly, to act as ourselves, to accept the risk that comes with integrity. This refusal may seem small, but when one person steps out of the lie, the lie becomes visible, and once it is visible, it becomes fragile...Freedom does not begin with victory, it begins with responsibility, with the decision to stop pretending."

Playwright and performer Jordan E. Cooper delivered his own speech, "Rock of Hope," which states: "Don't be afraid to throw your rock into the pond of this country. I know there are days where it seems your rock makes nothing but a small ripple in the pond, and I know there are days where it seems like that rock may just sink down to the bottom of darkness and disappear into a void of nothing. But I stand here to remind you that we are not the first rocks thrown into this pond. There are rocks from the warriors who endured 400 years of slavery. There are rocks from the survivors of concentration camps and Auschwitz. There are rocks from the blood-stained streets of Selma, Alabama, there are rocks from the voices of a generation against Vietnam. There are rocks from the graveyard of Gaza. And there are rocks from the front lines of Minneapolis, Minnesota. So next time you throw your rock into the pond of this dark world, don't image the sound of a splash. Don't imagine the sound of a solid hope sinking to a floor. Imagine the sound of your rock landing right on top of another piece of stone, a piece of stone that's just been sitting there waiting for somebody else to throw another rock hope."

Lin-Manuel Miranda recited part of President Obama's historic DACA speech, which declares that "we are a nation of immigrants, that has always been one of our greatest strengths." The sentiment echoes the foundational concept of Miranda's Tony-winning musical, Hamilton, which casts performers of color as the founding fathers and which contains lyrics such as, "immigrants, we get the job done."

The event concluded with Shoshana Bean performing Bob Dylan's protest song "The Times They Are A-Changin'." The Public Theater lobby was also opened to the public throughout the event, and offered free warm drinks.

Visit PublicTheater.org. See photos from the "People's Filibuster" below.

close gallery

0 of

Photos: The People's Filibuster at The Public Theater

Next Slide  

You may also like

• 
  Photos: John Cameron Mitchell, Simi Liu, more in Oh, Mary!
• 
  Photos: Celebrating Black History Month With The Little Shop of Horrors Company
• 
  Photos: Whitney Leavitt's 1s Bow in Chicago The Musical