Candra Daley

Review of Phoenix Theatre

For my husband s birthday, I surprised him with tw...

For my husband s birthday, I surprised him with two tickets to Spamilton. To say that we were disappointed is a gross understatement. We were confused and bewildered, staring at each other in a disbelieving stupor at the utter nonsense being laid before us. Although the actors voices were amazing and the choreography was great, the content was frankly the most bizarre thing I have ever seen, a befuddling mix of references to not only the original Hamilton actors themselves (Lin-Manuel, Leslie Odom, etc.), but also containing the most obscure facts about each of the Hamilton actors, which nobody in their sane mind would ever know. I mean, I consider my husband and I to be RABID Hamilton fans (I was lucky enough to see Hamilton in Gammage) and even we had no clue what was going on. And if that wasn t strange enough, they also chewed up and regurgitated every single Broadway reference that ever was, including, but not limited to: Annie, The Book of Mormon, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Harry Potter, Mary Poppins, Into the Woods, The Music Man, Rent, Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Kinky Boots, Cats, The Lion King, Steven Sondheim. And that list is being conservative. It was so confusing, that I wouldn t even call it remotely entertaining. I honestly had no clue what was going on 90 percent of the time. My husband and I considered walking out, but since we were on narrow risers with seats placed on them (we weren t even in a real theater!), we couldn t move without disturbing other guests. At $78 dollars a seat, and with a well-established company celebrating its 100 year anniversary, I expected a lot more. I just wish I could get my money, and the hour of my life spent listening to that nonsense, back. Sorry, honey- worst birthday gift ever.