"I got down there and I was just in awe" - Thespian James Monroe Iglehart reveals what Kamala Harris told him while visiting him back stage

James Monroe Iglehart spoke to People Magazine for a recent interview, recounting that Kamala Harris told him in private during her visit to see A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical on Broadway.

The former vice president, 60, and her husband, Doug Emhoff, saw the show in February, which chronicled the life and career of Louis Armstrong. It was held at the Studio 54 Theatre in New York City.

Reflecting on the big day, Iglehart, 50, said he didn't know who was in attendance, noting that he had just been informed it was someone big. The veteran actor, who embodied he titular character in the musical, eventually found out it was Kamala Harris:

"They were like, 'Ladies and gentlemen, please come down because Vice President Kamala Harris is here.' A scream came out of my mouth, I couldn't get dressed fast enough," he recalled. "I got down there and I was just in awe."

James Monroe Iglehart recalls meeting Kamala Harris, says he couldn't believe his eyes

James Monroe Iglehart, a Tony nominee, reflected on how his big day went down:

"First of all, they didn't tell us," he said. "They just kept saying, 'There's somebody here and you guys all have to stay back.' We were like, 'Who is here?' "

He went on:

"We couldn’t look into the audience. As Louis, for the first time in my life, I felt like a serious actor. I was like, 'Just concentrate on what you're doing. Don't worry about what's going on. You'll see it at the end.' So I forgot there was somebody there."

It was only when he was changing out of his costume after the show did he learn who was on set. As for what he said to her, he recalled:

"I walked up to her and I didn't even get to say anything," Iglehart says. "I was like, 'Hi, I'm…' And she said, 'What you're doing here is so important. The story you're telling is so important. I just want to thank you for that and thank you for your artistry.' And I was like, 'Oh...' I didn't speak to her."

He also recounted speaking with Emhoff, who lauded his performance, before he finally settled down and became "a normal person again":

"It was one of those moments where I really saw what theater could do," Iglehart said. "Sometimes you forget that other people come to what we do to just chill out and get away from the world for a little bit. And our job is to entertain you for a couple of hours and take you away from whatever's going on in the world. The fact that we could do that for Vice President Kamala Harris, I was like, 'Okay, yeah, we did our job.' She was so sweet. We took pictures."

In February, Kamala Harris came under intense scrutiny for taking to the stage to ramble incoherently as she spoke to the case of the Broadway musical:

"In times when we're dealing with so much in the world, um, we have to find those moments that are about joy and, and, and, shining, you know, as we say, shining a light in moments of darkness," she told the cast and crew, as reported by The Daily Mail.

"When we think about these moments where we see things that are being taken, but also lets see it, you know, nature abhors a vacuum. Where there's a vacancy, lets fill it. Lets know that reality is that the progress of our nation has been about the expansion of rights, not the restriction of rights," she added.

Harris continued:

"We're seeing a u-turn right now. For those rights to be maintained which means we have to be vigilant. It's just the nature of it. We have to be clear eyed. And it doesn't mean we don't see the beauty in everything. These things all co-exist, but I believe we fight for something not against."

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The cast and crew cheered her on, though critics flocked to social media to try and decipher just what she was saying. Kamala Harris' visit to the show came weeks after President Donald Trump was sworn into office after he came out on top against Harris in the bid for the presidency.

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