Lawyers for ‘Hamilton’ issued a cease-and-desist letter to The Door McAllen for its performances this previous weekend
DALLAS — A Texas church’s full-scale production of “Hamilton” the musical was not licensed by the Broadway present’s administration, WFAA has discovered.
A spokesperson for “Hamilton” confirmed The Door McAllen didn’t obtain a license to stage the present for its performances that it hosted on August 5 and 6.
Clips from the church’s production went viral on TikTok after The Door posted a video of Friday evening’s full efficiency to YouTube.
In a press release to WFAA, a “Hamilton” spokesperson mentioned Monday that “‘Hamilton’ does not grant amateur or professional licenses for any stage productions and did not grant one to The Door Church.”
The spokesperson mentioned “Hamilton” issued a cease-and-desist letter to the church on Saturday after studying concerning the unauthorized staging. It additional demanded that every one movies and footage referring to the production be faraway from on-line platforms.
After issuing the letter, The Door was allowed to proceed with its Saturday night efficiency under the situations that it wasn’t live-streamed or recorded, and that no photographs or movies from the production be posted on-line, in line with the spokesperson.
The Door additionally needed to agree they’d not mount any additional productions of the present.
The “Hamilton” group plans to debate with the church its unauthorized production “within the coming days,” in line with the spokesperson.
“Hamilton” is the “history-inspired” story of Alexander Hamilton’s life and political profession as he helped form American authorities and politics throughout our nation’s founding. The present’s performers sing and rap to the Tony Award-winning lyrics and music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The church’s production, which featured youth actors, additionally included set and costumes almost equivalent to the copyrighted Broadway materials, in addition to its authentic rating. It moreover included script modifications that featured spiritual references.
In one modified tune, in line with movies posted on-line, the character Eliza Hamilton sang to the character of Alexander:
“My hope is in Jesus.
If you could just give him a chance today…
That would be enough.”
A sermon by a pastor from the church following Friday’s efficiency in contrast homosexuality to dependancy and inspired folks “struggling” with homosexuality to hunt steering from God.
In a follow-up assertion to WFAA on Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for “Hamilton” mentioned, “The ‘Hamilton’ family stands for tolerance, compassion, inclusivity and certainly LGBTQ+ rights. We are in the process of reviewing the unauthorized changes made to the script to determine further action.”
The spokesperson quoted Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 2016 Tony Award acceptance speech by which Miranda mentioned, “Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside,” referencing the Pulse nightclub capturing in Orlando that killed 49 folks and injured 53 others.
The Door didn’t cost admission for its production, in line with the EventBrite web page for the performances. After phrase unfold concerning the church’s unauthorized present, the EventBrite web page confirmed Saturday’s efficiency was cancelled.
But an e-mail to individuals who RSVPed to attend the present confirmed that the efficiency was allowed to go on per the settlement with the “Hamilton” group.
“Hamilton” is one in every of Broadway’s hottest musicals, usually enjoying to higher-than-capacity audiences. For the week ending July 31 alone, the Broadway production of “Hamilton” grossed $2,246,748, in line with the Broadway League.Â
“Hamilton” at present boasts three North American touring casts, a residency providing in London and an Australian production.
Because the present at present doesn’t grant novice or skilled licenses for stage productions, many observers solid doubt that The Door’s production was authorized.
U.S. copyright regulation permits exemptions for church buildings and different homes of worship, however solely to non-dramatic works.
During Sunday morning’s service at The Door McAllen, Pastor Roman Gutierrez thanked the “Hamilton” group for “giving [the church] license to perform [their] version of ‘Hamilton’.”Â
However, the present’s spokesperson mentioned that no license was granted, and  that Saturday’s efficiency was solely allowed under the agreed-upon situations.
The church additionally posted on-line a promo video for their production that used a music observe just like what Disney used to advertise its “Hamilton” stream. Disney owns the movie rights to “Hamilton” after it struck a $75 million deal that led to its Disney+ service streaming a recording of the unique Broadway solid’s efficiency.
Disney has not responded to a request for remark about The Door’s promotional video and stream.
This isn’t the primary time The Door has created productions utilizing well-known copyrighted materials.
According to its website, The Door beforehand produced exhibits together with “Beauty and the Beast” and “Toy Story”.
Links to movies of these productions on The Door’s YouTube web page are set to non-public.
Disney additionally has not commented about The Door’s prior productions.
story by The Texas Tribune Source link