‘Dawson’s Creek’ Cast Reunion Includes Emotional Message From James Van Der Beek, a Video From Steven Spielberg and Broadway Royalty

The cast of “Dawson’s Creek” came together on Sept. 22 for an emotional, powerful reunion in New York City.

Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Mary Beth Peil, John Wesley Shipp, Mary-Margaret Humes, Nina Repeta, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe and Busy Philipps took the stage at the Richard Rodgers Theater to read the 1998 pilot episode. Lin-Manuel Miranda stepped in for James Van Der Beek, who was unable to attend due to illness.

The evening, narrated by Renée Elise Goldsberry, was to raise money for F Cancer and Van Der Beek, who is fighting colorectal cancer. Before and after the script reading, Van Der Beek appeared on screen via video message, getting choked up.

“I can’t believe I don’t get to hug my cast mates,” he said in the first video. “I wanted to stand on that stage and thank every single person in this theater for being here tonight.”

After the episode was over, Van Der Beek came back on screen.

“Now, nobody in their right mind would ever draw a parallel between the two, but one very big similarity between Dawson and the “Phantom of the Opera” is that both of them were faced with the reality that the woman they loved truly loved somebody else, said, ‘Go to him. Go to him now before I change my mind.’ Only one resulted in a crying face meme,” Van Der Beek said. He went on to introduce Norm Lewis to the stage to perform “The Music of the Night.”

Another surprise of the night was when Steven Spielberg — Dawson’s hero throughout the series — appeared on screen with a message. “Dawson, you made it. Maybe someday, I will get to have a Dawson’s closet,” he said. (Video can be seen here.)

At the end of the night, Goldsberry gave the audience permission to film, and she began singing the theme song, Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait.” She was then joined by the rest of the cast and Van Der Beek’s daughters, who both sang verses solo. His wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, and the rest of his children later joined the stage. (See the video below.)

The reunion was Williams’ idea, the show’s creator told Variety exclusively ahead of the event. “She enlisted me, Thomas and Greg to help. From there, others joined the planning party. Jason Moore agreed to direct, and we were off and running. Picking a date took some time, but our entire ‘Dawson’s Creek’ family was excited to do this and very accommodating and generous with their time.”