Chloe Karpel
It’s difficult to find a play or show to watch with people who are much less theatre obsessed than a person who spells theatre like I do. Especially my family. The play can’t just be jazz hands and cheesy songs; it can’t be a dry, boring story; it can’t be something so far away and unrelatable. But what Broadway show is relatable to my English and history teacher dad and 20 year-old dude-bro hipster brother who sits on his apartment roof with his friends all day and plays guitar? Perhaps it’s a show that opens with a song called “Welcome to the Renaissance.” Perhaps a show that centers around two brothers trying to find the next best thing in performance art and stumble upon music.
Something Rotten! is a musical comedy that follows two brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom, as they try to “outwrite” Shakespeare. In the late 1500s, when Shakespeare dominates the theatrical world, the Bottom brothers can’t compete, and they hate him for it — the score even includes a song titled “G-d, I Hate Shakespeare” (sung to the shock and dismay of every other character in the show). Soon, Nick turns to a back-alley soothsayer who predicts that the next big thing in theatre… is a musical. In a ridiculously catchy and hilarious musical number that features references to almost every modern recognizable musical, the soothsayer attempts to convince Nick Bottom that bursting into random song and dance is the way to beat Shakespeare.
The show begins to follow the Bottom brothers as they navigate introducing a new and laughable concept to serious theatrical patrons and participants, while also inserting highly amusing historical references. The wit and humor of the writing, punctuated by the comedic timing and energy of the actors, perfectly portrays the wonders and tribulations of discovering a new way to entertain. It’s a show for everyone — history buffs, music lovers, even people who enjoy ridiculing musical theatre can sit in the audience and feel understood.
Something Rotten! first opened on Broadway in 2015, and soon received ten Tony nominations and even one Grammy nomination. With an original Broadway cast consisting of big Broadway names, like Christian Borle and Brian d’Arcy James, the show took the theatre world by storm. Thankfully, the production soon became available to theatre lovers who couldn’t make it to New York when it went on a US national tour. All over the country, people were able to experience the comical choreography, the period-accurate costumes, and the stunning set.
On the original Broadway cast album (and in the original production), Christian Borle masterfully portrays a revered and idolized diva who complains that “It’s Hard to Be the Bard” after receiving a rockstar introduction littered with obnoxious guitar riffs and screams from adoring fans. It’s no surprise that out of the show’s ten nominations, Borle won the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical award (which is equivalent to the Best Supporting Actor award at the Academy Awards).
The hipster and the teacher both sat through the show roaring with laughter and responded enthusiastically to the bowing actors at curtain call. Because theatre and Broadway are such “acquired tastes,” creating a show that anyone can enjoy is near impossible. Yet the creators of Something Rotten! seem to have achieved this by giving the show an ironic and self deprecating air, witty one-liners, exaggerated characters, and humorous circumstances.
However, people who prefer a family-friendly experience may have some complaints about the show’s level of maturity. Though critics may classify the show as “family friendly,” the occasional crass humor, mildly inappropriate themes, and questionable Jewish references convey otherwise. The play might not be suitable for an AJA field trip, but it’s highly entertaining and perfect for other occasions (and other audiences).
Something Rotten! transforms the stage, the theatre, the atmosphere, the energy every single performance. The cast album alone takes listeners to a time when “William Shakespeare is cream of the crop” and truly draws them in “to a 16th century experience, in the age that’s golden.” The show welcomes everyone to the Renaissance, and when the house lights come up, audiences are disoriented, adjusting to the lights and the 21st century they forgot about.
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