Yes, I’m the guy who created the video Dancing Priest Does Hamilton | CHURCH PARODY | “You’ll Be Back”, which went a little wild on the Interwebs in the early months of the pandemic and, I’m told, sparked some needed hope and joy. Here’s how it happened.

How’d It Start?

It was for my church’s annual church talent show, which always brought a lot of laughter to the congregation and was typically used to raise funds for our sister church in the Dominican Republic. We always looked forward to it every year, and I was known for providing the over-the-top finales.

Like everything in 2020, it was cancelled, so we went virtual. No fundraising, just an opportunity to laugh and feel like a parish family again. We were on lockdown and hadn’t worshiped in person together in 20 weeks. We missed each other desperately.

Why Hamilton? Big Fan?

Yes. But . . .

For years I had avoided the Hamilton soundtrack so I would one day be able to experience it full blast in the theater with unspoiled ears. You know: willing to wait for it, wait for it, ’til we could be in the room where it happens. One of my kids and I finally got tickets to see it at the Fox in Atlanta, but then it was cancelled due the pandemic.

So like most of America, we watched it for the first time on July 3 via Disney+.
And Lordy. That was that.
We were done in.
Helpless.

(Seriously.
Y’all.
Daveed Diggs, “Guns & Ships?”
Mercy.)

So, admittedly, I’m not an OG Hamilfan/Hamilsquad/Hamiltonian.
But there was a good reason, and since then the love has run deep.

Why “You’ll Be Back”?

When Jonathan Groff stepped on stage and began singing “You’ll Be Back,” I laughed harder than I had laughed in a long time.

Something clicked, and I thought, “YES! King George means that as a threat, but for us who miss the joy of in-person worship, ‘You’ll be back,’ is exactly the promise we need to hear.” I knew immediately what I wanted to do for my church talent show.

Writing the parody lyrics felt like writing a love letter to my church. I wanted the whole thing to be joyful, hopeful, and completely ridiculous. Life was hard. We needed to laugh.

Plus, I have a fancy-shmancy red cope (the cape-like vestment worn on special church occasions), so pulling off a slightly George-esque ecclesiastical look seemed meant to be.

Did You Think It Would Go Viral?

No. This was just a quirky gift to my church family. However, a couple close friends, including my bishop, encouraged me to put it out there for others to enjoy. I don’t think any of us expected what happened next.

How Did People Respond?

I received hundreds of emails and letters. Lots of humor, lots of gratitude. But also a lot of folks baring their souls.

There was a pastor who said he’d been on the verge of losing his faith because of the wear and tear of the pandemic on his psyche, but now he thought he’d give it another go. A mom who had walked away from the Church but who now wondered if God might be calling her and her family back in. Dozens of people who were just outright depressed and lonely, but who perked up–even if momentarily–when a goofball priest with a song and dance routine reminded them that God is alive and well and will bring us through this, one way or another.

We’re all a mess.
All of us.
But God is bigger,
and as a friend of mine often says,
he hasn’t brought us this far
just to drop us now.

What Did You Learn?

I learned that despite the rancor and noise that surrounded us throughout the pandemic from our politicians and our angry neighbors’/coworkers’/uncles’ Facebook posts, a gigantic number of people and churches were quietly, gently, patiently doing the right thing; making the sacrifices; managing the hard decisions; adapting to the needs; serving the helpless; keeping the faith while following the science.

I learned that people of faith across denominations and around the world yearned deeply for corporate worship in the way any of us would yearn for our spouse, or children, or grandchildren if we were cut off from them. And it wasn’t just about the need for social interaction. It was deeper than that. It was God they craved. It was peace. It was sustenance. It was life itself.

I learned that hope and joy are two of the most powerful forces we have at our disposal. Though they often seem to be in short supply, they are summoned more easily and readily than we think.

What Was It Like Being on the Today Show?

Honestly, a lot of fun. I cannot say enough about how kind the producers were in the days leading up to it, and Al Roker and Dylan Dryer were a joy to talk to. It was a wonderful opportunity to encourage other pastors and to assure them that whatever they were doing to minister to their flocks during lockdown, it was enough.

I was told that Mr. Roker encountered the video when his kids’ youth minister sent it to their youth group. Friends gave me grief for calling him “Al” during the interview, but I figured, “Hey . . . he’s a fellow Episcopalian. That makes him like family.”

How Did You Make the Video?

It took a week, all while we were in total lockdown: just me, an iPhone, a tripod, and a ring light.

I wrote the parody lyrics and story-boarded a shot-by-shot vision for it in an afternoon. The hardest part was recording and editing the vocals. Folks have complimented my voice (really gang?), but this project painfully revealed to me that I am not a soloist. Thank God for autotune in GarageBand. Hours of autotuning. Hours.

I spent a couple late nights and one morning recording in the church. You should see the outtakes. (Or maybe you shouldn’t.)

Everything came together in iMovie on my work computer, which crashed, by the way, right as I was finishing. No joke. It died. This project killed my trusty workhorse of a computer, which, to be fair, was seven years old. A sign from God? You tell me. I’ve heard from a lot of clergy whose computers bit the dust early in the pandemic due to all the video work they had to learn to do.

Has Anyone from Hamilton Reached Out to You?

Interviewers asked me that a lot.
The answer is no.

The creative geniuses behind Hamilton were busy doing their part to spread joy in a hurting world while coping with the pandemic, too. I didn’t expect them to put any of that down for a dude who shot a YouTube video on his iPhone.

But, Lin-Manuel Miranda
and Jonathan Groff,
if you’re out there,
thank you for the gift
of your contagious joy.

May We Have Permission to Share Your Video?

As far as I’m concerned, churches and worshiping communities wishing to use Dancing Priest Does Hamilton | CHURCH PARODY | “You’ll Be Back” in livestream or in-house worship for the purpose of encouraging and edifying their flocks are welcome to do so without any need for permission. I don’t own the music. If giving credit, you might say, “Parody written and performed by the Rev. Lonnie Lacy, based on ‘You’ll Be Back’ from Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda.”

Warner Chapell Music, which owns the rights to the music receives ad revenue for the video.

The YouTube video is the only source; I’m not able to provide any digital files. (See the sad story of the computer crash above.)

I Heard There’s Merch?

Sort of. My former bishop, Frank Logue, created this design just for fun. When we shared it on Facebook, folks said, “T-shirts! T-shirts!” So yes, you can order Dancing Priest T-shirts, socks, stickers, whatever… if that’s your thing.

All items are ordered, printed, and shipped on-demand from https://stannestifton.threadless.com.

Lyrics

These days
we can’t get together
and church doesn’t quite feel the same.

We sigh,
and we long for the day
when we’ll kneel down and pray side by side.

It’s true, we know,
we’re more than a building
but assembling would make us feel fine.

Our worship’s online,
but Facebook and YouTube
can’t give you the Bread and the Wine.

You’ll be back.
Wait and see.
Just remember how it used to be.

You’ll be back.
Time will tell
when we’ve kicked this virus back to Hell!

Oceans rise, empires fall.
We have seen each other through it all.
When we finally open then door,
we will get back together
even better than we ever were before!

Da da da dat daa
dat da da da daya da
da da dat dat daya da!

Da da da dat daa
dat da da da daya da
da da dat dat daa!

Our church is strong
thanks to God and me and you.
This can’t last long,
and our love will see us through.

And then we’ll have Communion!
Our favorite thing, Communion!
You know you like Communion.
Mystic, sweet Communion!

Together.
Together.
Together forever amen.

You’ll be back
with all your friends,
and you’ll belt out all your favorite hymns.

You’ll say your prayers
and pass the peace
even with the ones you like the least.

So wash your hands
and just stay well
so you’ll be here when we ring the bell.

When we finally open then door,
we will get back together
even better than we ever were before.

Da da da dat daa
dat da da da daya da
da da dat dat daya da!

Da da da dat daa
dat da da da daya da
da da dat dat daa! Everybody!

Da da da dat daa
dat da da da daya da
dat dat daya da!

Da da da dat daa
dat da da da daya da
dat dat daya daa.

Parody written and performed by the Rev. Lonnie Lacy for the 2020 online talent show of St. Anne’s Episcopal Church. Based on “You’ll Be Back” from Hamilton, the original musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

This post is occasionally updated.