I am going to write about 6 new articles for here, but until then I wanted to post some other things that I've written. This is a review of the Broadway Musical Something Rotten, seen on September 27th 2015 and written on November 15th 2015.
Currently playing at the St James Theater is a musical called Something Rotten with book, music, and lyrics by: John O’Farrell, Wayne Kirkpatrick, and Karey Kirkpatrick respectively. Something Rotten is a musical that one would call a parody about Nick and Nigel Bottom the Bottom brothers, who write musicals. The other characters that we meet in the show are: William Shakespeare also known as the bard, Bea Bottom married to Nick, Portia daughter of Brother Jerimiah, Brother Jerimiah a puritan, Nostradamus a seer, and Shylock a financial backer for the Bottom brothers. They story opens in the Renaissance where Nick and Nigel are struggling to get their next play on stage, they don’t have anyone that wants to back them and they don’t seem to have the funds to produce the show themselves. We see Bea Bottom who wants to be able to work like her husband does, and she is willing to do the same jobs that a man does. William Shakespeare is introduced about half way through act 1, and this is not really the Shakespeare that you know and love but the writers’ interpretation of him, and it is an interesting way to go about the writer that everyone knows and loves. As the show progresses we see why Nick Bottom, and William Shakespeare don’t get along and it is something that you as the audience member need to know to fully understand and appreciate the story that is being told.
Something Rotten is a show that is filled with lines that every Shakespeare person will love, and every fan of theatre will love as well with the wit and the line delivery by the actors, there is no question about calling this show a comedy and a parody. In a world where so much theatre is sad, serious, and leave you feeling worse than you did when you entered the theatre it is great that a show like Something Rotten, is around where you can go and see it and just have some good fun at a show. Something Rotten is a light hearted show with a lot of fun, and a lot of heart mixed with story all rolled into a two act musical. Really nothing can describe the amount of wit that goes into the writing, other than to say that you never stop laughing the entire time that you are watching the show , and that is one of the things that makes this show one of a kind and like no other shows. It is also one of the reasons that 10,711 people are going to see the show, and they are making $986,138 a week in ticket sales as of October 26th.( http://www.playbill.com/news/article/broadway-grosses-oct.-19-25-368988) Something Rotten is one that could be described as unconventional, because it is a show that is told with a lot of references that you don’t see a lot, it also takes you back to a time when it was a different time and people had a different way of living their lives than we do today. The music in the show is something that is intertwined into the show, and it helps tell the story of the show without trying to take away from the story going on. The music helps the story along, and it gives you more of a look into what is happening, but it does not try and over shadow the story and the plot that is going on when the music is not happening.
The first character that we meet at the start of the show is Brother Jerimiah who is played in the show usually by Brooks Ashmanskas, he is a puritan that really does not like the Bottom brothers or Shakespeare because of his beliefs it seems. Ashmanskas plays Brother Jeremiah as a strict person, and his performance with anger and his tone is kept very serious much like his character and this helps brings him to live, it is something that adds more dimension to his character. At the same time as brother Jeremiah we are introduced to his daughter Portia, usually played in the show by Kate Reinders she is a character that is very different from her father and she really likes writing, poetry, and Shakespeare which she reads without her father knowing. Kate plays Portia with an excited glow, when she falls in love for the first time you as the audience member see how excited she is, and she is one that is also sheltered and naïve as well as her voice with her light tone bringing a tone of innocence. The next character that we see is Shakespeare, played on stage by Christian Borle and he is the bard or the most celebrated writer of his time here in this show he has a bit of an ego, and it seems as though the fame has gone to his head. Christian plays the role with wit, sass, and facial expressions making this new kind of Shakespeare one that is welcomed with in this show.
The Bottom brothers are who you the audience member see next, and they are the other writers that are seen in the show they are trying to write a hit musical, but it seems like they struggle with this because they can’t get a backer. They are played by Brian d’Arcy James as Nick Bottom, and John Cariani as Nigel Bottom Brian plays his role with the amount of abrasiveness that the role needs, while also being hard headed and stubborn. John plays his role as Nigel lighter, and one that has maybe not seen as much or lived as much as his life as Nick has because he is younger. Shylock is the backer that Nick and Nigel get to back their play in the end, he has been pursuing them for a while and Nick finally lets him back the play, He is played by Gerry Vichi, while he is not in the show as much as the rest of them he is one that makes his presence on stage known as the grandfather type character that everyone loves. Bea Bottom is the other family lead in the show, and she is one that wants to help Nick and Nigel anyway that she can even though she is a women she wants to do the jobs that men do. Bea is played with sass and attitude as well as the gentleness that needs to be there to make her real by Heidi Blickenstaff. The last member of the cast that has a large role other than the ensemble in the play is Thomas Nostradamus, he is a seer that Nick goes to for help to find out what the next big thing in theatre will be. He is played with hilarity, and wit by Brad Oscar who acts as the comic relieve for the show even though the whole show is considered a comedy.