Brush up on Your Shakespeare with “Something Rotten”
By Skip Sheffield
“Something Rotten” is a theater geek’s delight. Maybe that’s
because it was written by two self-professed theater geeks: brothers Karey and
Wayne Kirkpatrick, who wrote the music.
This extremely silly mock Shakespearean spoof runs through April
2 at Broward Center for the Arts. The script, written by Karey Kirkpatrick and
John O’Farrell, could make a good trivia contest. How many references to other
shows can you identify?
The Kirkpatrick brothers played their stage counterparts,
Nick and Nigel Bottom, for the show’s 2015 Broadway debut. Rob McClure and Josh
Grisetti, who originated the Bottom brothers in the national touring
production, are featured in the Fort Lauderdale show. Adam Pascal, who
originated the role of writer-genius Shakespeare, is in this production as
well.
The year is 1595 in England, when Shakespeare was at his
peak of creativity. The Bottom brothers are struggling in the shadow of
Shakespeare, who is portrayed as a strutting rock star by Pascal, who
originated the lead role of Roger Davis in the Broadway and London productions
of “Rent.”
The brothers’ latest show is “Richard II,” which is
completely overshadowed by Shakespeare’s tragedy “Romeo and Juliet.”
Furthermore the brothers learn Shakespeare’s next play is “Richard II.” No
wonder Nick Bottom is jealous of the towering figure who is considered by many
the greatest writer in the English language. This is a comedy- a farce really-
so it sets up Nick to sing “God, I Hate Shakespeare.” This is a sentiment
shared by many students who consider Shakespeare a pompous bore. Nick enlists
the help of Nostradamus (Blake Hammond), a renowned soothsayer, to look into
the future and swipe some ideas from Shakespeare. This couldn’t have been the actual Nostradamus, for he died in 1566, but who's counting?
Nick is married to Bea (Maggie Lakis), a thoroughly modern
Renaissance woman. Bea dresses as a man so she can get work, since Nick isn’t
much of a provider.
Nigel is not married, but he becomes entranced with Portia
(Autumn Hurlbert), the daughter of strict Puritan magistrate Brother Jeremiah
(Scott Cote). Cote makes comic gold out of Jeremiah’s repressed homosexual tendencies.
“Something Rotten” is a laugh a minute romp, lampooning
theatrical conventions. The show’s comic pinnacle is a ridiculous “Omelet: The
Musical,” complete with tap-dancing chorus line.
You don’t have to be a Shakespearean scholar to recognize
one of the Bard’s most quoted maxims, “To thine own self be true.” The line is
from “Hamlet,” but in this case it is the poetic inspiration of Nigel (who has
a beautiful tenor voice), which prompts the show’s most endearing number. On
the other side of the coin is “Make an omelet,” which is one of the craziest
production numbers ever conceived in American musical theater; chockablock with
pointed theatrical references.
Any show that can make a production number out of “The Black
Death” has to be a flat-out farce. “Something Rotten” is as clever as it is
funny, but it helps to have a passing knowledge of theater history to fully
appreciate it.
Tickets are $35-$150. Call 954-462-0222 or go to www.browardcenter.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment