Derivative 'Something Rotten!' pokes fun at Shakespeare and other musicals
Set ostensibly in 1590s London, “Something Rotten!” is more of a modern ribbing exercise to spoof Shakespearean conventions, classic musicals of the past 75 years and today's celebrity culture.
It's shamelessly derivative, but the touring 2015 Broadway musical comedy garners big laughs in a crowd-pleasing Chicago debut at the Oriental Theatre.
Longtime theatergoers should chortle at all the stolen stage references and name-dropping from other more famous shows, though the silly situations cooked up by the show's creators (Karey Kirkpatrick, teaming with his brother, Wayne, on the score and John O'Farrell on the book) are general enough to draw laughs even from those who aren't huge theater fans. There's even a preachy message about the importance of “to thine own self be true.”
“Something Rotten!” is centered around the brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom (a perfectly cast Rob McClure and Josh Grisetti), two writers who are consistently overshadowed by superstar playwright/actor William Shakespeare (original “Rent” star Adam Pascal, playing the Bard as a cocky rock star).
The cash-strapped Bottom brothers need to come up with a new play idea, especially since they have money troubles involving the foppish Lord Clapham (Joel Newsome) and the Jewish money lender Shylock (Jeff Brooks). Things are so desperate that Nick's enterprising wife, Bea (Maggie Lakis), goes against convention and seeks work outside the home.
Meanwhile Nigel falls head-over-heels for the poetry-loving Portia (Autumn Hurlbert). Yet her puritanical father, Brother Jeremiah (Scott Cote), wants to use his growing clout to shut down all theaters.
The Bottom brothers' luck looks bright once Nick encounters the spacey soothsayer Nostradamus (a delightfully batty Blake Hammond). Nick runs with Nostradamus' predictions that the moneymaking future of theater is to write the world's first musical.
The Kirkpatricks and O'Farrell construct an intricately wound first act, though it unravels in Act II - especially after the undercooked Bottom brothers musical is inevitably hatched. The joyous ending isn't really so “happy” come to think of it, especially since the denouement doesn't satisfy most of the characters' artistic ambitions - and it would involve backbreaking work, too.
But most audiences encountering “Something Rotten!” for the first time won't mind all the blatant lifting from other sources and the uneven sketch comedy quality of the writing. That's because director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw (“Aladdin,” “The Drowsy Chaperone”) works his staging magic with such entertaining pizzazz. The adept cast also spins comic timing gold out of the material, while Gregg Barnes' colorful Elizabethan costumes and Scott Pask's cartoonish Tudor-era sets are a feast for the eyes.
As an irreverent and self-aware musical, “Something Rotten!” can often feel like it's trying too hard to be the next “Monty Python's Spamalot” or “The Book of Mormon.” “Something Rotten!” is not respectively as fresh or as meaningful, but Nicholaw and company do their utmost to ensure that it's still fun anyway.
“Something Rotten!”
★ ★ ★
Location: Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago, (800) 775-2000 or
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday (also Sunday, July 16), 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday (also Wednesday, July 19); through Sunday, July 23
Running time: About two hours, 30 minutes with intermission
Tickets: $24-$95
Parking: Area pay garages and limited metered street parking
Rating: For mature teens and older; features some saucy language and jokes