‘Something Rotten!’ – Book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell; Music and Lyrics by Karey Kirkpatrick and Wayne Kirkpatrick; Directed by Chris Brindley; Music Direction by Bethany Aiken; Choreography by Caroline Workman. Presented by the Weston Drama Workshop. Show closed 7/30.
by Mike Hoban
Weston Drama Workshop (WDW) closed their 2022 summer program with a bang, presenting a high-energy, full blown production (40+ performers) of Something Rotten, the 2015 Broadway musical featuring fictional Shakespeare contemporaries Nick and Nigel Bottom, whose careers are going nowhere in the shadow of the rockstar Bard. The production was given a monumental boost by a number of terrific performances by the leading players, as well as a handful of thoroughly entertaining BIG production numbers crafted by director Chris Brindley and choreographer Caroline Workman. Something Rotten successfully combines those production numbers with a Monty Python-esque premise that delivers what most musical comedies only aspire to – a welcome blast of creativity – when so many modern musicals lazily rely on recycling hit movies (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark– really?)
In need of a hit play at a time when Shakespeare dominates the 16th century medium, bombastic Nick Bottom (a clever steal of the character name from A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and his more introverted but vastly more talented brother Nigel, are thwarted when Shakespeare beats them to the punch with his version Richard the Second. In desperation, Nick seeks the help of a bargain basement soothsayer named Nostradamus (not the famous one, but his nephew Thomas) to find out what the next big thing in theater is going to be, so that he can get ahead of the trend and also score a payday to support himself and his newly pregnant wife. The soothsayer foretells that musicals (which he comically describes as a play where “an actor is saying his lines, and out of nowhere he just starts singing”) are the future of theater, and out of options, Nick sets to work on a play about the Black Plague before settling on the absurd “Omelet” – a musical about eggs. The results are absurd but very funny.
WDW’s production is wildly over-the-top, and the exuberance is infectious as Brindley wisely lets his cast milk every line for what it’s worth, particularly Cameron Levesque’s Soothsayer, Nyosha Homicil’s Bea, and Frankie Mendez as the egomaniacal but grossly insecure Shakespeare. The leading players are solid across the board, and at the final performance, Parker Fisher performed wearing an orthopedic boot without missing a beat – even in the dance numbers. The production numbers, particularly the opening “Welcome to the Renaissance”, are well-executed and wildly fun, and tap fans will be amply rewardws as Workman releases an army of tappers in multiple numbers. The production was comprised entirely of high school and college students (up to age 23), but the quality was as strong as most regional theater productions, and left me looking forward to the 2023 program. For more information, go to: https://www.westondramaworkshop.org
