Commerical- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOLVpJB0nDs
Genre- Parody/musical
Warnings- Mention of marijuana use
This is my very first review off of a musical I watched, and I don't intend on doing these very often since my wallet cannot afford to watch so many in a short amount of time. I want to branch out my writing abilities to more than just movies and occasional rants. Whenever I am up to the challenge of writing about my thoughts, I do so with glee, and after watching this musical I certainly want to share a brief review on how I felt about it.
"Spamilton" was written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini and it is an 80 minute show- or 1 hour and 20 minutes- of a small cast of characters retelling the story of the life of American founding father Alexander Hamilton. Not only that, the characters also go further into discussing the life of the lead actor of "Hamilton" Lin-Manuel Miranda as well as talking about many other popular broadway shows that are currently striving for the spotlight that "Hamilton" stole from them.
The story of "Spamilton" while hilarious and never leaves you bored, can be a little difficult to understand for some viewers.
The "Hamilton" references themselves aren't going to stop you from having a good time, since I barely know the musical aside from listening to a couple of songs from their soundtrack. The real issue was references involving old time celeberties that made me tilt my head and wonder how they can are included in the musical.
To be fair, after thinking about their contribution to the entertainment business, I could see how they can be connected, but this can be a dry spot for the younger audience who haven't grown up knowing about these people. This musical can grow dated over time, yet from what I know of, I don't think writer intended for it to be a timeless story.
There can also be issues understanding the musical if you're not a huge broadway fan or at least have some knowledge of what the big shows are in New York City. For example, this isn't an accurate number, but say the characters spoke about eight broadway shows, out of that I understood the references to six of them. So if this is your first musical ever and you've never been a big fan of musicals before, the scenes where the characters speak about them may have you lost.
On the bright side, even when I found myself a bit confused, the performance of the actors kept me from being bored in my seat. They were so eccentric and obnoxious in the best way, from their physical actions- from their figure to their face- it was always on point with being as goofy as possible. There wasn't a moment where any of them appeared to be out of character. Even when someone was not present on stage, they would still often be included in the scene as backup vocals and so forth.
Though there were only a handful of actors, their voices boomed throughout the theatre. It was like I was watching the actual "Hamilton" for a much more reasonable price. I was surprised with the talent they exuberated and impressed as I noticed the amount of effort they put into holding a note or multitasking as they danced or interacted with others as they sang.
When I went to watch the show, it was located in the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre on 47th Street Theatre in New York, New York. It's a small yet humble place, it had a Spanish translation of the musical above the stage, and I was very pleased with that. You don't have to worry about huge crowds of people everywhere you go since it's not a huge building, but something I would concern you with is the seating.
I decided to sit on the balcony in the first row, and the first row can be pretty scary for those afraid of heights. In front of you there are bars to hold onto, but nothing that can block you from looking below at the first floor orchestra.
In short, you can kick your foot out of the balcony if you wanted to and no wall will block you from doing it. Therefore, if you come with little kids, I would highly suggest not to take the first row of the balcony or the sides of the balcony otherwise known as box right and left.
It can also feel a little cramped because the seating has handlebars that you cannot lift up, plus you're very close to your neighbors and I remember trying to not burden a lady beside me by inching closer to my mother which made the handlebar poke me in my side. It was not the best venue for those who are claustrophobic, I can tell you that, but the show was so much fun it can be easy to forget about the cramped space. One final note about the building, there is a bathroom in the basement floor with two stalls each for the men and women so I'd suggest to use it before the show so you don't have to deal with the long lines during the brief intermission.
(Nicole Vanessa Ortiz is not in this photo. Lady on right is Nora Schell)
Would I recommend seeing "Spamilton"? Yes, I really would.
It was fun experience from beginning to end. Coming from a person who's never watched "Hamilton" it was still comprehensible and hilarious to watch, although I would recommend to research the big musicals in New York so you get a sense of why the jokes about them are funny. A special shout-out to all of the performers I saw that day: Dan Rosales, Nicole Vanessa Ortiz, Tristan J. Shuler, Aaron Michael Bay, Chris Anthony Giles, Claudia Yanez, and Cameron Amandus for a splendid performance. You were the highlight of my afternoon that August 5, 2017.
Just to be clear, I am only reviewing the show only and not the venue because it can always change and it doesn't determine how good the show is. On that note, I give "Spamilton" a 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
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