Calling all Broadway musical babies! Get yourself over to Stages posthaste, do not pass go, don’t even think about it, just get there now. I’m talking about Gerald Alessandrini’s thrilling and hilarious Spamilton.
As you may know, Alessandrini is the creative genius behind the cult hit series Forbidden Broadway, his wicked revues that skew and air kiss that great American art form – the Broadway musical. Since 1982, his off-Broadway cabarets, some 28 of them, have played around the world and have justly garnered numerous Drama Desk Awards and a much-deserved Tony Award in 2006 for Excellence in Theatre. That’s an understatement.
There is no one like Alessandrini. Take the best wordsmiths like W.S. Gilbert, Cole Porter, Dorothy Fields, Stephen Sondheim, Irving Berlin, Fred Ebb, Howard Ashman, Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein, name any of them, put them in a Cuisinart, blitz furiously, and you’d get Alessandrini. In wit, charm, inventiveness, and utter love of the art he is nonpareil. A master parodist, he takes the songs then morphs the lyrics into incomparable and side-splitting satire that tweaks not only the iconic show they’re from but its very style. It’s brilliant burlesque, genius I would say, as if Daniel Defoe wrote a Broadway musical.
Here he turns to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s universal mega-hit Hamilton, the first time, I think, he has parodied an entire show. Knowing the musical’s intricacies is a plus to understanding the fast-paced twists and turns, but since this is Alessandrini, there are so many other shows and performers who get the acute twist of his very sharp knife that you’re never lost for long. In one song, you might hear quick references to The Music Man, Annie, The King and I, Cats, all while skewering Hamilton and especially Miranda, who’s called “obnoxious,” self-serving, and egotistical, setting about to revolutionize the weary, out-of-date contemporary musical. The revue comes at you like gangbusters, furiously rapping its head off, dazzling with novelty and caustic charm.
Like all his Forbidden productions, this is intimate: five performers and one pianist. John L. Cornelius II is the many-handed accompanist, who sounds like an entire philharmonic. All the young performers are first-rate triple-threats: they act, sing, and dance. All exceptional, they double roles as original performer and the characters they play. Ricardo Enrique is Miranda/Hamilton, rapping as fast as possible; Mariah Baillie plays all Schuyler sisters with two puppets, later seen as Liza Minnelli and Barbra Streisand; Jaylon Bolden as conceited Leslie Odom/Burr; Brandon Lozano as Washington and Sondheim; the lithe Jalen Tinsley as Daveed Diggs and Jefferson; and Tristan Flores as flamboyant and petulant King George III. He gets one of the best parodies with “Straight is Back” instead of George’s iconic “I’ll Be Back.” Alessandrini mocks the gay influence on Broadway but subtly insists it’s never going away, it’s baked into show biz.
The sets (Liz Freese) and costumes (Leah Smith) are marvelous reminders of the original with its brickwork wall, rough wood platforms, and muslin clothes, some without sleeves to mirror its downtown influence. The show moves as fast as the lyrics thanks to the excellent hip-hop choreography from Valerie Rachelle and never-ending movement from co-directors Rachelle and Derek Charles Livingston. Like Hamilton, it’s kinetic and full of life. Unlike Hamilton, Spamilton leaves you breathless with laughter.
As a fillip, Act II is Miranda’s “little musical” 21 Chump Street, written after his first success, In the Heights, for National Public Radio’s American Life. It’s a public service announcement to warn kids not to be drawn into the world of drugs. Teen Justin (Tristan Flores) is enamored of the new transfer student Naomi (Diana Alcaraz) and will do anything to take her to the prom. Unbeknownst, she is a federal agent tasked with stomping out rampant drug use among the young. Entrapping innocent Justin, she wheedles him into buying weed, which leads to his arrest and criminal record. At 20 minutes, it’s not a happy little musical, but all Miranda’s musical brilliance is in abundance with a bouncy modern score enhanced by tasty teen spirit, something like a mini Spring Awakening. Again the ensemble, under Monica Josette quicksilver choreography and direction, keeps everything in constant motion. It’s beautiful to see – and hear.
This double bill is the best in town, one of Stages brightest productions this season. If you sing “Tomorrow” in the shower, waltz around to “Shall We Dance,” finger snap to “Cool,” this wonderfully inventive show is its own drug and not to be missed. I guarantee, you’ll get high.Spamilton. Through June 21. 7 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Stages, 800 Rosine Street. For more information, call 713-527-0123 or visit stageshoustong.com. $62-$114. 713.52
