Datus Puryear plays the parody Leslie Odom, Jr. who, in Manuel's original, plays Aaron Burr. Puryear is tall, handsome, slender, sexually provocative, golden-voiced and hilarious in the dual roles. When he and Adrian Lopez, playing Lin-Manuel Miranda, duet in the song "Aaron Burr, Sir, Nervous-er" the laughs come quick and stick around for another eighty minutes. Like the original much of the through-composed parody uses rap to create its narrative ambience. And that vocal-styling get the company through the inserted parodies of "Camelot," "The Music Man," "Gypsy", "Book of Mormon," "The King and I," "Sweeney Todd," and a long list of other Broadway hits.

Adrian Lopez as Lin-Manuel Miranda in the second act of "Hamilton"; Photo: Internet sourced

Adrian Lopez is terrific. He is not only a fabulous singer and dancer, he makes a handsomer Miranda, like the original only better. This actor understands comedy and how to make it pay. He is just downright wonderful, both seriously funny and humorously sympathetic. Definitely worth the price of a ticket all by himself, he leads a cast of beautifully talented  newcomers through the wonders of parody.

To make matters even better, the stylized, nearly non-stop choreography by Gerry McIntyre is one of the most gleeful aspects of the work on the stage, so good in its relentlessness that it is a wonder the cast doesn't collapse in a heap, exhausted, at the end of the show.

Lopez and Company: Photo: Internet sourced

Jared Alexander, Rendell DuBose, and Brandon Kinley round out the cast, each of them garnering laughs and applause as they make their many, many character appearances. At the piano is Musical Director Matthew Hougland who must have titanium wrists for the piano never stops playing and the music comes pounded out like horseradish from a jar. I can't say he's the most talented person in the production, but he is the best at doing what he does, just absolutely the best.

This show is just so much fun, so silly and so packed with thrills and chills that the humor spills out all over the stage with the speed and volume of an express train in a long tunnel. It's lengthy stay at Proctors comes to an end on November 2, so put down the history books (you'll learn enough about history in the theater) and sit back and enjoy one of the true treasures of the decade. Spamilton does more for you, fills you up with taste-free humor instead of canned tasteless meat, and still leaves you hungry for more of the same. A delectable way to spend an evening or a matinee, in short.

+  10/26/19  +