For two SHSU alumni, the road to success came shortly after
graduation. Adrian Lopez and Dominic Pecikonis both star in the off-Broadway
tour of “Spamilton,” the 80-minute parody of Broadway hit “Hamilton.”
“Spamilton” will be coming to the Hobby Center in Houston
from May 28-June 9. Lopez plays “Hamilton” playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, and
Pecikonis plays original Broadway cast member Daveed Diggs, as well as other
cameos throughout the show.
Through the SHSU Department of Theatre and Musical Theatre,
the pair were granted the opportunity to take their shot.
“It’s all kind of a domino effect,” Pecikonis said. “I got
nominated for ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ at Sam Houston, and that show was the
reason I’m here. It all trickles back down to Sam.”
From SHSU to a national tour, both Pecikonis and Lopez have
traveled this road together.
“Dominic and I actually had similar paths,” Lopez said, who
plays in the starring role of the show. “He won the Kennedy Center scholarship the
year before me; then the following year, I won the scholarship. It was almost
like we were following in each other’s footsteps.”
Those footsteps took both of them from SHSU to New York for
the Open Jar residency, which is where they got their big break.
Their director for the Open Jar residency sent out
invitations to casting agents to come see the actors’ showcase. Through that, a
casting director noticed their pictures and picked them out from just a photo.
After three rounds of auditions, the rest is history.
“I always have to tell people that it’s not necessarily the
norm,” Pecikonis said. “We didn’t really experience the true struggle yet, I
think. We just feel really lucky every day because we did get to have this
opportunity right away. Who knows when the next one will come, but we are
trying to be very present in the fact that we have this opportunity now.”
With a chance to step in the spotlight, Pecikonis spoke
about how this opportunity will prepare him for what comes next.
“I’m realizing a lot of work just falls into your lap, and
you have to be ready for it,” Pecikonis said. “It’s not necessarily what you go
looking for. I’m just going to keep auditioning and grinding and see what
happens. I don’t really have an idea of what will happen. I’m just excited for
whatever comes my way.”
“SPAMilton” will run from May 28-June 9. Tickets are
available for purchase at thehobbycenter.org.