Almost a month has passed since the Door McAllen Church in Texas performed an illegal and altered version of the hit Broadway musical, Hamilton. And now, the church has released an official statement after clips of the now-deleted video of the production circulated on social media, and the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, condemned the performance.
The church’s pastor released its statement on Instagram, apologizing to Miranda and those associated with the original Hamilton musical. The church also admitted that they didn’t seek permission to produce the show nor to alter Miranda’s work. Any evidence of the musical ever existing (including rehearsal footage) will be deleted and the church will also pay unspecified damages.
“We respect the copyrights of Hamilton’s author and contributors. These copyrights are protected by federal law. We acknowledge there are lawful avenues to obtain a license to stage properties which we did not pursue. And it is never permissible to alter an artistic work such as Hamilton without legal permission. I recognize as the Pastor of the church that I have an obligation and responsibility to follow the law and educate our community about these protocols. Our ministry will use this moment as a learning opportunity about protected artistic works and intellectual property.“
On August 5 and 6, the Door McAllen Church performed the illegal rendition of Hamilton. The lyrics were altered to make the songs more “Christian friendly” and even added an anti-LGBTQt+ sermon at the end. The full performance was immediately taken down after it was found on YouTube. However, clips of the performance circulated on social media, with fans mocking it for being “cringe”.
The people behind the original production of Hamilton immediately caught wind of the illegal production, and sent a cease and desist letter to the church and told them to take everything down, but allowed the church to do one final performance.
You’re out of luck if you want to see this church’s version, but an official high-quality recording of Hamilton is available to stream on Disney Plus.
Read the church’s full statement below.