Spamilton Spoof Turns Hamilton Upside Down

By Darlene Donloe

The West Coast premiere of Spamilton lives up to the hype.

Hilarity ensues as soon as the actors take the stage for the parody of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s highly-successful Hamilton, currently playing at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through the end of December. 

Thankfully, so much has been written or talked about Hamilton that even if you haven’t seen it, the jokes in this send-up won’t be lost.

L-R: Zakiya Young, Wilkie Ferguson III, William Cooper Howell,
John Devereaux and Dedrick A Bonner

The show, which paints a vivid picture of the founding fathers, revels and lampoons the Broadway hit. A cast of five, including four men and one woman - sing, act, dance and joke their way through 80-minutes of sidesplitting material.  

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Spamilton and Lin-Manuel Miranda are blessed and highly favored.

This spoof doesn’t disappoint.  By now everyone knows that Hamilton deals with the American Revolution and what are or are not flagrant lies told throughout history.

That being said, the show is fun, fun and more fun as the five actors in rapid-fire succession deliver witty, silly and amusing prose.

L-R: John Devereaux, Wilkie Ferguson III, and Zakiya Young

No one is spared in this spoof. There are black people in wacky afro wigs, a big black man dressed as Annie, an actress portrays Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand and Glenn Close, and there’s even a Michelle and Barack Obama.  The charm of this show is that it is reverential, coupled with good-natured fun. For instance: in one of the Hamilton signature songs, the lyrics include:  “I am not throwing away my shot.” But, in Spamilton, the lyrics say: “I am not gonna let Broadway rot.”

Of course, that’s not the only song to get a bit of the Alessandrini magic. There's more where that came from.

This is truly an ingenious piece of work by Alessandrini.  He laughs at and sends kudos to Lin-Manuel Miranda at the same time.

Willian Cooper Howell

The cast is spectacular.  Each one brings their individual brand of joviality and Spamilton magic to the show. There is no weak link in the bunch. They do their tight white pants and black boots proud. Their delivery is quick and solid. And with very little, if any, props they make the audience believe they are watching a full production, complete with all the bells and whistles.

Spamilton is created, written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini. It stars Glenn Bassett, Becca Brown, William Cooper Howell, Susanne Blakeslee, John Devereaux, Elijah Reyes, Dedrick A. Bonner, Wilkie Ferguson III and Zakiya Young.

Spamilton, Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232; Tuesday through Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. No Monday performances; exceptions: No 8 p.m. performance on Thursday, November 23. Added 8 p.m. performance on Monday, December 18. No 1 or 6:30 p.m. performances on Sunday, December 24;

through Dec. 31, 2017; $25-$70; For information: CenterTheatreGroup.org, by calling Audience Services at (213) 628-2772, in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Office (at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles) or at the Kirk Douglas Theatre box office two hours prior to performances. Groups: (213) 972-7231. Deaf community: Information and charge, visit CenterTheatreGroup.org/ACCESS.

On the DONLOE SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likable), O (oh, yeah) and E (excellent), Spamilton gets an E (excellent)