The Hamilton original cast, Mary Poppins, Jim from The Office, and a very surprised nine-year-old girl joined together on Sunday night, April 5, for what must be the liveliest Zoom meeting since your boss’s husband walked in with no pants on.
The scene: The second episode of John Krasinski’s homemade quarantine talk show, Some Good News.
The reason: Aubrey, a nine-year-old in Jacksonville, was supposed to see Hamilton when the Broadway tour came to her hometown this week, but the show was canceled for social distancing reasons. “We’re home watching Mary Poppins Returns instead,” Aubrey’s mom tweeted, after the family missed the show. “At least we’re safe & healthy.”
The strangely heartwarming outcome: Watching a preteen light up as a stranger chants, over video call, “How does a bastard orphan son of a whore….”
Since Aubrey could not go to Hamilton, Hamilton came to Aubrey.
Welcoming the nine-year-old, who described herself as “a million” on the 1–10 scale of Hamilton fandom, Krasinski first promised to fly her and her mom to New York to see Hamilton after social distancing rules lift. He then introduced her to Mary Poppins herself, aka his wife, Emily Blunt, who played the “practically perfect” nanny in Mary Poppins Returns. The call was then interrupted by Hamilton writer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, who costarred with Blunt in Mary Poppins (or as Krasinski said of him, “He was kind of like a backup dancer”).
Aubrey, who had grinned while speaking to Krasinski and smiled while meeting Blunt, gasped and mildly hyperventilated when Miranda joined the call. She became totally speechless when he was joined by Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr.…and then Anthony Ramos…and then Daveed Diggs and Phillipa Soo…and eventually, the full Hamilton original cast, who joined together to sing the title song from the musical.
It’s hard to overstate what truly good news this all is—that the Hamilton cast is staying safe and well and extremely on beat, that Daveed Diggs has such elaborate wallpaper, that Lin-Manuel Miranda is as electrifying over front-facing cam as he is live, that entertainers are going out of their way to make joyful art during dark times.
“Thank you for having me!” Aubrey, the world’s most polite nine-year-old, shouts at the end of the video. It’s nice to take a break from living through a major historical event to watch one that unfolded so long ago, it’s been made into a rap-filled Broadway musical. History has its eyes on all of us. So stay home, and call someone who needs some good news.
Jenny Singer is a staff writer for Glamour. You can follow her on Twitter.
