A Texas church has apologized to Hamilton producer Lin-Manuel Miranda and agreed to pay legal damages after staging an unauthorized production of the hit Broadway musical, whose lyrics and dialogue were deemed to incorporate Christian themes. was changed to.
Produced by the nondenominational church The Door MacLean, the production was followed by a sermon saying that God can help those struggling with homosexuality.
It was first livestreamed on Friday 5 August. The clip was later shared on social media and lawyers for the official Hamilton sent a cease-and-desist letter.
In a statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday, church pastor Roman Gutierrez personally apologized to the writers and producers of Miranda and Hamilton for staging a production without permission that “violated the rights and copyrights of many people”. Violated”.
“The Door Christian Fellowship MacLean Church did not seek, or obtain a license from, Hamilton’s producers or creators to produce, stage, reproduce or alter any part of Hamilton; nor did we obtain a license from the makers or creators of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s music, lyrics. It had sought prior permission to replace Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work by replacing it, removing lyrics and adding dialogue.
“And it is never permissible to alter an artistic work like Hamilton without legal permission,” the statement continued. “Our ministry will use this moment as an opportunity to learn about protected artistic works and intellectual property.”
In the production clip, which aired on Twitter, a scene was added in which Alexander Hamilton repented, accepting jesus christ as its master and savior. The lyrics for Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story and That Will Be Enough were also changed to include references to Jesus, with swear words and sex references elsewhere removed.
In the show’s opening line, Hamilton was no longer “the bastard, the orphan, the son of a prostitute”; Instead, he became a “rogue, orphan, son of a prostitute”.
In A Rap by Hercules Mulligan, “I heard mom say ‘come back'” became “Your boy is spying for the government”; The line “Shut your daughters and horses” became “Shut up your secrets and horses”; And “it’s hard to have intercourse on a four-set of corsets” became “it’s hard to keep them off me when I’m coming to your sources.”
After the production, which was staged several times, a pastor gave a sermon Explaining: “Maybe you struggle with alcohol, drugs, homosexuality, maybe you struggle with other things in life, your finances – whatever – relationships. God help you tonight He wants to forgive you for your sins.”
In a statement to the Dallas News, the church said it was not anti-LGBT, adding that “everyone is welcome”.
The church pastor agreed to destroy all video, sound and images of the production, and requested all church members to do the same.
A spokesperson for Hamilton told the New York Times that it would donate all damages to a non-profit coalition supporting the LGBTQ community in South Texas, saying in a previous statement: “The ‘Hamilton’ family includes tolerance, compassion, inclusivity and, of course, LGBTQ.” + stands for rights.”
(This story has not been edited by seemayo staff and is published from a rss feed)