Lin-Manuel Miranda raps fan for filming Hamilton
- Published
Regular theatre-goers will no doubt be familiar with a pre-show announcement advising that "the use of recording equipment is strictly prohibited".
Anyone found breaking this cardinal rule risks being thrown out, with actors rarely taking kindly to those pointing a camera at the stage.
This was the case in Puerto Rico when Hamilton creator and actor, Lin-Manuel Miranda, interrupted his performance to beg an audience member to stop filming.
But not exactly.
The man who wrote the music and lyrics to Hamilton made a self-edit live on stage, as he changed the words to one of the show's songs to get the message across.
He sang: "Lady filming in the fourth row, please stop it."
Had Miranda not spotted the audience member attempting to pirate the show, he would have sung the original line, "the problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish".
The new lyric came part-way through the first act song My Shot, which chronicles Alexander Hamilton's first meeting with John Laurens, Hercules Mulligan and Lafayette.
And Miranda suggested his colleagues on stage were taken aback by his lyrical improvisation in a subsequent Twitter post.
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Though it is unusual for someone to attempt to film a stage show, it is not unheard of.
Piracy is a well-known problem within the stage industry, with some audience members uploading and exchanging their bootlegged recordings online.
Some fans have justified the practice by citing the price of theatre tickets, external, particularly when also taking into account the travel costs for those living outside major cities.
But Miranda has previously had people removed from the theatre for recording, external, which he has said "misrepresents" his work.
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By Tom Gerken, BBC UGC & Social News
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