'You Are Changemakers': Hillary Clinton Delivers Empowering Speech at Women's Day on Broadway

Hillary Rodham Clinton was finally on Broadway, and not just as a character in a play. “I've been to a lot of places, done a lot of things, seen some incredible sights but I never thought I'd be on Broadway, for many reasons,” the former Secretary of State said on March 10 on the stage of the New Amsterdam Theatre. “One of which is that I literally cannot carry a tune, no matter how light the tune might be.” Clinton was there to deliver the keynote to Women’s Day on Broadway, the annual event hosted by Disney Theatrical Productions and timed to International Women’s Day.

At the event, around 900 attendees were admitted free of charge for an afternoon of panels and discussions about gender equality and the particular challenges women face in the theater industry. Clinton took the stage to deliver a 15-minute speech about empowerment and how women can be changemakers by holding fast to their artistic visions. She began by referencing “the catastrophe in November of 2016” and how in addition to long walks in the woods of her home in Chappaqua, New York, Clinton also found post-election solace at the theater. “It's really one of my cherished roles, being an audience member, whether I'm watching my granddaughter's eyes light up at Frozen or feeling new appreciation for lines from King Lear.” She then quoted a line from Shakespeare’s play, in a reference to the current political climate and President. “'Tis the times' plague when madmen lead the blind.” The audience responded with applause.

She then addressed the host of issues that face women in theater, from the gender pay gap, to unconscious bias against women, to lack of affordable childcare in the face of “the unpredictable hours of theatrical jobs,” to the lack of paid sick days for private sector workers “which is complicating how are we going to respond to the threat of the coronavirus.” To Clinton, the way to address such inequality isn’t “just about people running for office. It's about changing minds and hearts and it really matters when women's stories are told on the most high-profile stages in America. I've been personally encouraged by the progress we've seen towards diversity and inclusivity over the past few seasons on Broadway, but don’t stop.”

Clinton then shouted out a number of female Broadway artists who have broken boundaries, including the women represented on Broadway this season, such as Bess Wohl, Paula Vogel, Marianne Elliott, as well as Lucy Moss and Katori Hall—both of whom spoke at Women’s Day on Broadway. “There are so many talented women in front of the lights and behind the lights,” remarked Clinton.

She ended her speech by quoting Tony-winning Hadestown director Rachel Chavkin, who said at last year’s Tony Awards that the lack of women working on Broadway was not an issue of there being not enough female artists (Hadestown remains the only Best Musical winner created and directed solely by women). “It is a failure of imagination by a field whose job is to imagine the way the world could be,” said Clinton, quoting Chavkin before continuing. “Boy do we need your imaginations now. We cannot afford to go backwards, we cannot afford to get discouraged and disappointed and throw up our hands in despair at everything we see across our country and the world.” 

Clinton then encouraged the audience to stay the course. “We need to keep our voices rising, we need to keep telling our stories. We need to keep going, because nothing is more important than imagining and then inventing the future that we want. Thank you for what you do every single day.” 

The third annual Women’s Day on Broadway was hosted by Celia Keenan-Bolger and Mandy Gonzalez (full disclosure: Broadway.com features editor Diep Tran was a moderator on one panel). See the video of the former First Lady’s remarks below.