Coming back from their Fringe debut in 2024, Shamilton! The Improvised Hip-Hop Musical is definitely a Fringe must-watch. Aside from the obvious factor of the show having a large total of sell-outs, this improv musical is astounding to watch in its unique ability to make audiences double down in hysterical laughter. Shamilton! follows the premise of Lin Manuel Miranda’s famous musical, Hamilton, but instead of singing about the founding father, the group creates a unique musical about a celebrity or historical figure of the audience’s choosing.
As you enter the venue, you hear music of punk-rock versions of popular Hamilton songs, and from this, I already knew I was in for a ride with this show! The set itself consisted of a simple, large box in the centre, two wooden chairs to the left, and on the audience’s right, we could see the two musicians with their keyboard and drum set to accompany the group’s improvisation.
The improv cast, with their final show consisting of Derek Demko, Chris Grace, Anna Bortnick, RJ Williams, Cene Hale, and Will Naameh , firstly ask for the audience to shout out recommendations for who they would like to star in that night’s original, new musical. Yells of Egon Spengler, Keir Starmer, Superman, and Lady Gaga, amongst other celebrities, were thrown in from every direction. In the end, through an audience vote to keep up a sense of democracy, our musical was based on the life of Gandalf. Following soon after, the cast asked us who Gandalf’s friends/enemies/lovers would be (this not necessarily needing to be from the world of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit).
We then soon embark on a journey of Gandalf’s life story; with his father “Mandalf”, his Hinge date with Lady Gaga at Olive Garden, and Erik Lehnsherr as his mortal enemy who wants to “kill all humans like they’re tiny moths”.
Performing songs like ‘Gandalf the Grey’ instead of ‘Alexander Hamilton’, ‘Say Frodo to This’ in contrast to ‘Say No to This’, and ‘In the Eye of Mordor, There is Silence’ alternatively from ‘Hurricane’, I was hugely impressed by the cast’s quick-thinking in their improvisation of both songs, acting, and character storylines. Demko nailed the iconic Ian McKellen laugh, Bortnick was a perfect Lady Gaga (nonchalantly sprinkling in multiple Gaga song references), and Naameh arguably produced the most laughs as Gandalf’s canonical horse, Shadowfax (or his real name, “Sunglasses Telephone”). The band and the lighting team’s improvisation to assist the main cast in their plot was incredible, with it almost seeming they knew what was to come from the cast’s minds.
Created by the famous Baby Wants Candy company, the show brought back the inner musical theatre kid deep within me, as I, along with the rest of the audience, couldn’t stop laughing and smiling throughout.
Shamilton! The Improvised Hip-Hop Musical ran until 24th August at Studio One at Assembly George Square Studios.
Image by Baby Wants Candy, provided to The Student as press material.