DEAR TAYLOR: A JOURNAL

He literally founded a newspaper that is still in circulation today

When did you write the sonnet and did it replace a previous speech you had planned?

No, I haven’t written anything, and I hadn’t heard about today’s events until after our Tony rehearsal. I had always kind of had this time between rehearsal and tonight to sit and think about what I would say if I was lucky enough to be called up. And it sort of informed all of that, obviously. You know, we live in this world where beautiful and horrible things exist at the same time, sometimes in the same day. So you can’t let that go by, you can’t let that moment go by. Particularly with theater. This is the cornerstone of, you know, theater doesn’t exist without the LGBTQ community. It’s the cornerstone of our industry. And so, you know, it’s heavy in my heart today.

“At least I’ll keep his eyes in my life.”

“You, you, you.”

“You forfeit all rights to my heart.”

“I would always change the line…”

“Sept huit… sept huit…”

“Philip, you would like it uptown; it’s quiet uptown.”

“And you would smile, and that would be enough.”

“He aims his pistol at the sky, WAIT!”

“I live another fifty years… it’s not enough.”

“You have no control, who lives, who dies, who tells your story.”