Hamilton Play – Spiritual Revolution, commonly referred to as "Scamilton" was an illegal, unauthorized production of the musical Hamilton performed by The Door Christian Fellowship, a church affiliated with the Potter's House Christian Fellowship located in McAllen, Texas.
The illegal production ran for two performances: the first being on August 5, 2022 at 7 PM Central Daylight Time, which was live-streamed on the church's YouTube channel and the second being on 6 PM Central Daylight Time which was not live-streamed.
The name arises from many of the performances ranging from passable to subpar; the numerous technical issues the show faced (including microphones and lights often not functioning when they should); as well the fact that the church both did not acquire a license to perform Hamilton (as of 2023, Hamilton has not released its rights for amateur productions) and drastically altered several aspects of the show without permission to make it about accepting Christianity (under US copyright law, it is also illegal to make unauthorized changes to a theatrical piece even after securing the rights to perform one). Changes include, but are not limited to: alterations to many songs to make them conform with "Christian values"; removing the songs The Story of Tonight, Farmer Refuted, The Story of Tonight (Reprise), Stay Alive, Ten Duel Commandments, Dear Theodosia, Tomorrow There'll Be More Of Us, The Room Where It Happens, Schuyler Defeated, Cabinet Battle 2, I Know Him, and Hurricane; downplaying the role of Angelica Schuyler Church; and adding a scene between Stay Alive (Reprise) and It's Quiet Uptown where a pastor tells Alexander Hamilton to "receive Jesus Christ in your heart right now". On top of that, the show concluded not with a curtain call, but with a sermon given by Victor Lopez (an associate pastor at the church) comparing Alexander Hamilton to King David and demonizing hom*osexuality by comparing it to marital problems, alcoholism, drug addiction, financial problems, and relationship issues.
After the performance, the church's head pastor Roman Gutierrez, gave a speech saying that they were "thankful" to Lin-Manuel Miranda for giving them the rights to perform and modify the show. The production was widely criticized by the internet and fans of the show notified Miranda in various ways, mostly through tweets. Miranda responded, denying that the church was granted a license to perform the show, thanking his fans for notifying him, and showing gratitude to the Dramatist's Guild for their condemnation of the illegal production. The church settled the case out of court apologizing, promising to destroy all images and recordings of the production, as well as paying an undisclosed amount of damages to the Hamilton team. The Hamilton team subsequently donated the money gained from the lawsuit to the South Texas Equality Project, an organization in support of the LGBTQ+ community. Despite this, a reupload of the entire performance by user TAG Media has since surfaced which, after 4 months of being up (as of 1/24/23), has over 200k views, and compilations and reactions on YouTube and TikTok have gotten millions of views.
Trivia[]
- Unlike in the original musical where the actress who plays Peggy Schuyler in Act 1 is double cast to play Maria Reynolds in Act 2, in Scamilton, it is the actress who plays Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton who also plays Maria Reynolds. This is likely because the actors playing Alexander and Eliza/Maria are married in real life.
- Also, while in the original musical, the actor who plays Hercules Mulligan in Act 1 is double cast to play James Madison in Act 2, Scamilton has both roles played by a different actor instead.
- This is not the first time that the Door Christian Fellowship has committed intellectual property theft. Before "Hamilton", the church has previously staged their own altered and unauthorized versions of Despicable Me, Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast, The Greatest Showman, and Elf.
