Lin-Manuel Miranda releases statement on unauthorized production of 'Hamilton' by Texas church

by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder

Lin-Manuel Miranda has released a statement on the unauthorized production of ‘Hamilton’ which was performed at a Texas church last weekend.

He tweeted the following:

“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.”

@dramatistsguild, who have the backs of writers everywhere, be it your first play or your fiftieth. 1/2 <a href=https://www.onstageblog.com/"https://t.co/yMtM3z9crI/">https://t.co/yMtM3z9crI&mdash; Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) <a href=https://www.onstageblog.com/"https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/1557369846396080128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\%22>August 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src=https://www.onstageblog.com/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js/" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>"}" data-block-type="22" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1660143193272_32961">

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

This is the first time Miranda has spoken about the production.

The Door McAllen ministry in Texas performed a heavily edited version of Miranda’s Tony-winning hit. Their version included altered dialog and lyrics to highlight the teachings of Jesus. The show concluded with a sermon from one of the church officials who demonized the LGBTQ population.

As news of the production began to spread, officials from the church stated to OnStage Blog that they had permission and acquired a license to produce the show. This was not accurate as lawyer from ‘Hamilton’ stated that a license had not been given and permission to perform their last performance was given under strict guidelines and after a cease and desist letter had been sent to the church.

The church has not responded to any comments from the media since, nor have they apologized for their actions. It should be noted that this isn't the first time the Door McAllen has done this. OnStage Blog reported that they did the same to Disney’s ‘Beauty & the Beast’ in 2018.

While many didn’t think Miranda would take action, his statement of “Now lawyers do their work” tells me otherwise.

This is a developing story and will be updated with new information.