A couple weeks back, the internet was transfixed by the case of “Christian Hamilton” — an apparently unauthorized production of Hamilton in Texas that injected a distinctly Christian message into Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway play.
Lawyers and theater fans alike were perplexed and even a little angry about what went down at the Door Christian Fellowship Ministries of McAllen, Texas, which partnered with RGV Productions for the show. The production included lines like “Stop running from God, Alexander…His word says if we confess our sins, he is faithful and [wants] just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us.”
Miranda himself has now responded on social media, calling the play “illegal” and “unauthorized.” He suggested that the play might be under legal review, saying, “Now lawyers do their work.”
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
The production’s Christianized edits were documented across social media, cataloging lots of small lyrical changes that worked a very evangelical message into the Hamilton story. They changed “But I’m not afraid / I know who I married” to ““But I’m not afraid / My hope is in Jesus.” and other, similar tweaks.
Hamilton is still playing on Broadway and is not currently licensable for amateur or professional productions, with or without content edits. Many fans were also perturbed that the production ended with a message from the church’s associate pastor, Victor Lopez, who grouped “homosexuality” in with a list of things like drug and alcohol addiction that people might be struggling with.
Shane Marshall Brown, a spokesman for Hamilton, issued a statement to USA Today saying that “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.”
