The team behind Broadway's Hamilton will donate damages collected from The Door Christian Fellowship McAllen Church, following its unauthorized performances of the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical, to South Texas Equality Project (STEP), a partnership of LGBTQI organizations and individuals focused on advocacy and visibility of the LGBTQI community. The church had followed the illegal performances with a sermon that included anti-gay rhetoric.
Playbill confirmed the team's plans for the damages through production spokesperson Shane Marshall Brown, who declined to comment on the amount of said damages.
The Texas church performed the Tony-winning musical earlier this month without obtaining the legal right to do so, additionally making changes to the work that inserted biblical references. Following online outrage and an official response from Miranda invoking legal action from the production's lawyers, a public apology acknowledging the illegality of the performances and affirming that damages would be paid was posted to the Church's Instagram account August 23.
The church reportedly received a cease and desist letter August 6 after an August 5 performance was live-streamed to the church's YouTube channel. The Door McAllen was granted "limited permission" to perform its August 6 show under a series of stipulations, including a no videos or photos rule and the cancellation of all future performances. The Door McAllen's live-streamed production and trailer have been removed from YouTube, and no trace of the production can be found on its social media page. Pastor Roman Gutierrez claimed in a quote given to Dallas News that he had previously acquired legal permission to produce the show
Hamilton is directed by Thomas Kail with choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler. The show is produced by Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs, Jill Furman, and The Public Theater.
The Tony-, Pulitzer-, and Olivier Award-winning musical was filmed live and released via Disney+ in 2020, featuring the entirety of the principal original cast, including Miranda in the title role.
