Texas church apologizes after unauthorized, homophobic 'Hamilton' performance, agrees to damages
A Texas church that reenacted an unauthorized production of the musical “Hamilton,” which included additional references to Christianity in addition to some homophobic lines, has apologized and said it will pay damages.
The Door Christian Fellowship, a nondenominational church in McAllen, Texas, performed “Hamilton” earlier this month, with some lines edited to refer to Jesus Christ. A sermon was also added to the musical in which a speaker likened homosexuality to alcoholism, drug addiction and financial problems.
The theater team behind “Hamilton” quickly criticized the unauthorized performance. Shane Marshall Brown, a spokesperson for "Hamilton," told USA TODAY earlier this month that "'Hamilton' does not grant amateur or professional licenses for any stage productions and did not grant one to The Door Church."
"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," Brown said.
The church in a Tuesday statement on social media and its website apologized to Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of “Hamilton, in addition to its producers and others who contributed to the show.
“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,” the statement said.
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It also agreed to “never stage the performance again and will destroy any and all video or sound recordings and images." The church also said it will “pay damages for our actions,” but did not immediately provide additional information on legal proceedings.
The statement was not signed, but said it was from the church’s pastor. The church’s senior pastor is Roman Gutierrez.
Gutierrez previously told The Dallas Morning News in a statement that the church had first acquired legal permission to produce the show.
Brown in a statement to USA TODAY on Wednesday said “Hamilton” is planning to donate the damages to the South Texas Equality Project, a coalition of groups supporting LGBTQ people in the Rio Grande Valley.
He said no amount has been reported.
Under copyright law, churches are permitted to perform copyrighted music during religious services. But streaming and distributing performances is not allowed.
Miranda earlier this month tweeted that he was “grateful to all of you who reached out about this illegal, unauthorized production,” adding “now lawyers do their work.”
Grateful to all of you who reached out about this illegal, unauthorized production. Now lawyers do their work.
And always grateful to the @dramatistsguild, who have the backs of writers everywhere, be it your first play or your fiftieth. 1/2 https://t.co/yMtM3z9crI— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) August 10, 2022
Contributing: Wyatte Grantham-Philips and Scott Gleeson
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lin-Manuel Miranda gets apology from Texas church for 'Hamilton' show
