'Hamilton' team issues statement on The Door McAllen church production
by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder
The team at ‘Hamilton’ have released the following statement regarding the production of the show at a Texas church which occurred over the weekend, included heavy edits to the original script, and an anti-LGBTQ sermon.
The statement reads,
Hamilton does not grant amateur or professional licenses for any stage productions and did not grant one to The Door Church.
On Saturday, August 6, we were made aware of the unauthorized staging of HAMILTON by The Door Church in McAllen, TX that took place on Friday, August 5, and their plans for additional performances. 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.
Hamilton informed the Church after receiving a response to the cease and desist letter, that they could proceed with the August 6 performance, on the conditions that (a) it was not live-streamed or recorded; (b) no photos or videos of the performance be posted; (c) they not mount any further productions; (d) this limited permission was without prejudice, and we reserved all rights and remedies; and (e) we would be discussing this matter with the parties behind this unauthorized production within the coming days once all facts are properly vetted.
We would like to thank our devoted fans for bringing this to our attention.
It should be noted that the church previously claimed they had permission to perform the show. However, as you can see from the above statement, the production was not authorized and they were only given permission to perform the show on Saturday with strict guidelines. It also appears from the statement that this issue isn’t over yet as representatives from the show will be contacting church officials in the coming days. It will be interesting to see what results from the church making heavy edits to the show’s original script.
The statement seemingly contradicts what Senior Pastor Ramon Gutierrez stated during Sunday services that they had been granted a “license” to perform the show and that they were only contacted by a lawyer from the ‘Hamilton’ team to take down their videos and ads.
The licenses for ‘Hamilton’ were never available and the Door McAllen’s performance of the show on Friday, Aug 5th was an infringement of copyright.
At one point, Gutierrez thanked the ‘Hamilton’ team for “entrusting us with such an amazing play”. It needs to be noted that at no time did the ‘Hamilton’ “entrust” the Door McAllen with anything.
Also, it needs to be reiterated that these types of productions are not authorized. So anyone else thinking of copying what the Door McAllen did, I hope they’re reconsidering.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.