A Texas church’s unauthorized production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton has drawn widespread criticism and a cease-and-desist letter for shoehorning in several references to Jesus as well as a homophobic screed that compares being gay to being addicted to drugs.
This attempt to put some rap into the rapture was first reported by OnStage Blog, with more details provided by The Washington Post and The Dallas Morning News. On Friday, August 5th, The Door McAllen church livestreamed a never-before-seen take on Hamilton, with plenty of lyrics that would have surprised, if not the Creator, then at least the show’s creator, Miranda.
Now-iconic lyrics such as, “What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see/ I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me,” were re-written with a religious message to, “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.”
The approximately two-hour production ended with a 15-minute sermon from Pastor Victor Lopez that lumped in members of the LGBTQ+ community with addicts. “Maybe you struggle with alcohol, with drugs, homosexuality, maybe you struggle with other things in life, your finances, whatever, relationships,” he said. “God can help you tonight.”
As the backlash grew, Pastor Roman Gutierrez released a statement saying the church is not homophobic and “everyone is always welcome.” He also claimed to have received permission to put on the performance.
This was contradicted by Shane Marshall Brown, a spokesperson for Hamilton in New York, who said producers were “unaware of this unauthorized staging of Hamilton.” The statement explained, “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.”
The church seems to have complied, though clips from the illegal production have survived on social media. Check them out below.
Hamilton: An American Musical premiered on Broadway in 2016 and set a record for most Tony nominations. It took home 11 Tony trophys and was also awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Since then, Miranda’s musical In the Heights was adapted into a film from Jon M. Chu, and Miranda made his directorial debut with tick, tick… BOOM!
This is how The Door McAllen church concluded its illegal production of Hamilton: with a sermon demonizing homosexuality. pic.twitter.com/FXpw8ycvbb
Advertisement— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) August 7, 2022
More from The Door McAllen church's illegal Christianized "Hamilton."
The line is supposed to be: "What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see. I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me." pic.twitter.com/sTV0fLZjiR
— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) August 7, 2022
More from The Door McAllen church's illegal Christianized "Hamilton."
I'm pretty sure this scene where Alexander Hamilton finds Jesus isn't in the original show. pic.twitter.com/wOXyTWeqyA
— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) August 8, 2022
More from The Door McAllen church's illegal Christianized "Hamilton."
The song is supposed to go:
"But I’m not afraid
I know who I married
So long as you come home at the end of the day
That would be enough" pic.twitter.com/CUitoUXQ34Advertisement— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) August 8, 2022
