Spamilton: An American Parody at the Triad: Getting Off on Broadway

You don't have to see Hamilton to have side-splitting fun at Spamilton. All that is required is that you love Broadway. In fact, a running gag in this 70-minute spoof goes: you are not snagging tickets to Hamilton, even if you are Bernadette Peters or Liza! Yes, when it comes to the democracy of Hamilton, getting in is an equal opportunity leveler. Spamilton, the offspring of Forbidden Broadway conceived by Gerard Alessandrini who also directed, plays with a central conceit: what Camelot was to the Kennedy's, Hamilton is to the Obamas, fodder for pillow talk.

Following this cleverly crafted revue's theme, that Broadway darling Lin-Manuel Miranda (Dan Rosales in a very bad founding father wig) has with his much lauded hip hop extravaganza, fixed whatever is wrong with Broadway. And so a riotous ensemble of performers: Juwan Crawley, Chris Anthony Giles, Nicholas Edwards, Nora Schell, along with Rosales, take on everything from Phantom to Cats to Annie, Broadway hits old and new. They pay homage to them in a love-envy headlock with "Lin," sprinkled with guest appearances by the likes of "Liza," "Beyonce," and "JLo." Even "Barbra Streisand" makes the scene bestowing the Tony on Hamilton, and wailing to be in the film! When it happens. (Well, Hamilton aficionados will have a leg up on that one.)

The Triad is a gemlike theater way off Broadway, with a bar and banquettes. Cheering at the opening were Seth Rudetsky, Bryan Batt, and Christine Ebersole who, like many of the first-nighters, knows from Broadway and cabaret. Ebersole will begin a two-week run in October at the Café Carlyle, her first in five years.

A version of this post also appears on Gossip Central.