The folks behind “Shamilton: A Drag Musical Parody” want to be clear before the drunken shenanigans begin: This is not a history lesson. Or, for that matter, is it close in any way to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s game-changing hip-hop musical about Alexander Hamilton and the Founding Fathers.
“We’re not going up there presenting ‘Hamilton’,” Steve Olivier, whose drag persona is Tyra Rex, said about the four performances kicking off Aug. 22 at City Winery. “That is one thing I can promise you that you will not get.
Credit: Joey Ellington
Credit: Joey Ellington
“There’s a section of ‘Shamilton’ where we literally skip about eight songs in a matter of one paragraph, so we’re chopping this thing up, flipping it, reversing it and serving it back to you,” he continued.
“There are mixes. There are pop culture songs. There are songs from the musical with lyric changes. There are references to Destiny’s Child and Taylor Swift. Our recipe is to just throw in as many jokes as we can because, at the end of the day, it’s a drag show.”
Olivier wrote, directed and produced “Shamilton” for the group Drunk Drag Broadway, which has chapters in Atlanta and San Francisco and previously staged parodies that include “Wickedish,” “Beauty is a Beast” and “Mannie” in Atlanta.
The concept borrows from the old Comedy Central TV series “Drunk History,” in which a narrator gets drunk and tries to remember a complicated story and the performers have to improvise. With DDB, though, the song parodies are all written in advance so that any given performance teeters back and forth between scripted and unscripted.
Credit: Brandee Alexander
Credit: Brandee Alexander
“Fortunately, and unfortunately, we have a drag queen on the mic, and Nicole Paige Brooks is very dangerous on a microphone,” Olivier said. “And so just having her there just changes the game pretty much every night.”
Brooks, the stage name of Atlanta’s Brian Christopher Pryor, competed on season two of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” She will absolutely be drinking during the show, Olivier said, and audience members can even buy her drinks.
DDB started in San Francisco in 2016. Joey Ellington, a costume designer and stylist in the movie industry, moved to Atlanta in 2018 and started a chapter here, becoming its artistic director. Olivier joined as a performer right away; “Shamilton” is the first show he has written and directed.
To further muddy the waters, there is a completely different show called “Shamilton,” staged by the improv group Upright Citizens Brigade, which had the title first but not the drunk and drag aspects.
DDB got permission from Upright Citizens Brigade to use the title since they will only be staging the show for four nights in Atlanta and, thus, not really competing with the improv group.
Of course, no one has gotten permission from Miranda or anyone associated with the real “Hamilton” because they don’t need it. So long as they stay in the realm of parody (see “Saturday Night Live,” Weird Al Yankovic, Mad magazine), they can stage a cockeyed version of the original all they want. Nevertheless, lawyers were definitely consulted, Olivier said.
The real “Hamilton” runs a full three hours, but “Shamilton” runs about 75 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission. The plan for now is to do four nights at City Winery, and that’s all for the show.
In addition to narrator Brooks, there will be a cast of eight on stage playing the roles, and not all of them will be drag queens.
“Our Eliza is a cisgender woman,” Olivier said. “And we also have a trans man who is a drag king. We have some cis men, and we also have a nonbinary person on stage, as well as on our crew.
“The actual overall story is still recognizable,” he said. “It’s just through a hazy fog.”
IF YOU GO
“Shamilton: A Drag Musical Parody”
8 p.m. Aug. 22, 24, 25 and 28 at City Winery. 650 North Ave. NE, Atlanta. Tickets: $25-$40. 404-946-3791, citywinery.com
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