Church to pay damages for unauthorized, altered ‘Hamilton’ performance in Texas

UPDATE: In a statement shared to Instagram, a Texas church announced Aug. 23 it will pay an undisclosed amount of damages after running an unauthorized production of “Hamilton.”

“On behalf of The Door Christian Fellowship McAllen Church, I would like to personally apologize to the creator of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the producers of Hamilton, and the numerous others who contributed their intellectual property to Hamilton, for staging an unauthorized production of Hamilton that infringed on the rights and copyrights of many,” the statement says.

“The Door Christian Fellowship McAllen Church did not ask for, or receive, a license from the producers or creators of Hamilton to produce, stage, replicate or alter any part of Hamilton; nor did we seek prior permission to alter Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work by changing the music, the lyrics, deleting songs, and adding dialogue,” it continues. “We respect the copyrights of Hamilton’s author and contributors.”

The church said it is destroying all video, sound recordings and photos from the unauthorized performances and rehearsals, and it asks all church members to do the same.

The original story is below.

A Texas church ran an unauthorized production of “Hamilton” — a renowned musical on the story of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton — with a Biblical twist, according to media reports.

Then “The Door McAllen,” a nondenominational church in southern Texas, was ordered to put a stop to it.

Shane Marshall Brown, a spokesman for “Hamilton” in New York, told McClatchy News that producers learned of the show on Saturday, Aug. 6.

“We issued a cease and desist letter for the unauthorized use of Hamilton’s intellectual property, demanding the immediate removal of all videos and images from previous productions from the internet, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, their own website, and elsewhere,” he said.

The letter followed an illegal performance on Friday, Aug. 5, as first reported by OnStage Blog.

An employee with The Door McAllen told McClatchy News the church had no statement on Aug. 8.

Video shared to Twitter shows the performance was followed by a sermon, in which the pastor compared homosexuality to addiction, WFAA reported.

“He knows exactly what you’ve gone through,” the pastor said in a clip shared to Twitter. “You’ve gone through maybe broken marriages, maybe you struggle with alcohol, with drugs, homosexuality, maybe you struggle with other things in life, your finances, whatever, relationships. God can help you tonight.”

Pastor Roman Gutierrez told the Dallas Morning News “everyone is always welcome” at his church.

Another clip shared to Twitter shows character Eliza Hamilton singing altered lyrics to promote Christianity.

“I’m not afraid,” she sings. “My hope is in Jesus. If you could just give him a chance today, that would be enough.”

In a different recording, a cast member performing as Hamilton states, “What is a legacy? It’s knowing that you repented and accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ that sets men free. You sent your sinless son of man on Calvary to die for me!”

Producers of the Broadway show allowed the church to put on a Saturday, Aug. 6 performance as long as it wasn’t recorded, according to the statement sent to McClatchy News. They also weren’t to post videos or photos online.

“Hamilton” staff will be “discussing this matter with the parties behind this unauthorized production within the coming days once all facts are properly vetted,” the statement continued.

“The Hamilton family stands for tolerance, compassion, inclusivity and certainly LGBTQ+ rights,” Brown said. “We are in the process of reviewing the unauthorized changes made to the script to determine further action. We would like to thank our devoted fans for bringing this to our attention.”

Creator and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda has publicly spoke out on LGBTQIA+ rights prior to the church’s production.

“Queer identity is beautiful & natural,” he tweeted in response to Florida’s bill limiting LGBTQ discussions in school. “Say it to yourself until you feel safe enough to say it out loud. Then say it again. And again. Say Gay all day. It needs to be heard and it bears repeating. All of you, ALL of you. Love is Love is Love.”

This story was originally published August 8, 2022 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Church to pay damages for unauthorized, altered ‘Hamilton’ performance in Texas."