by Emmy Brett. @emmy_brett.
NEW YORK, NY. - History was made this week at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre when 53 year-old Connecticut native and brave activist Susan Leechy shattered records by “hmm”ing at Aaron Sorkin’s Tony-winning To Kill A Mockingbird 146 times, sources confirmed.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said an usher, who requested to remain anonymous. “We usually get a few thoughtful murmurs, and maybe a couple of assenting grunts, but what Susan did… it’s really something.”
The record, previously held with a mere 87 murmured “that’s right”-s by Kathy Richards from Wisconsin, was broken at approximately 7:46 last Thursday, right after Atticus’ famed line: “The color of your skin is never as important as the color of your heart.”
According to eyewitnesses, the “hmms” began at 6:58 at Thursday’s performance, shortly before the show had even begun.
“I’m not exactly sure what she started ‘hmming’ at,” said fellow theatre goer and New York native Jeoff Hix. “They were only playing the curtain speech.”
Susan’s vocalizations continued to grow in volume throughout the play, and ticket holders reported that, by the start of act two, they had reached a fever pitch, so that virtually no dialogue could be understood for the play’s final 20 minutes. Luckily, since the entire audience had at one point taken middle school English, they all knew how it ended.
Susan, whose prior activism includes sharing the occasional NowThis video and refusing to use straws at Starbucks, said she was only doing her moral duty as an audience member.
“‘Hmm'ing during a show has never been more important, especially right now,” said Susan, a mother of three and avid NPR listener. “We have to stand up for what is right - and by ‘stand up’, I mean sit, arms crossed, making throat noises.”
While Susan’s work has stirred talk of Nobel Peace nominations, the organization refused to comment, other than a simple “uh-uh” and a brief, yet telling, “psh.”