Something Rotten! | |
---|---|
Music | Karey Kirkpatrick Wayne Kirkpatrick |
Lyrics | Karey Kirkpatrick Wayne Kirkpatrick |
Book | Karey Kirkpatrick John O'Farrell |
Setting | 1595, South London |
Premiere | April 22, 2015 : St. James Theatre |
Productions | 2015 Broadway 2017-2019 US tour |
Something Rotten! is a musical comedy with a book by John O'Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick and music and lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick. Set in 1595, the story follows the Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel, who struggle to find success in the theatrical world as they compete with the wild popularity of their contemporary William Shakespeare.
Something Rotten! opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on April 22, 2015, where it played for 708 performances. It was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and won one (Christian Borle as Best Featured Actor in a Musical). Tours and international productions have followed.
The musical began with an idea that brothers Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick had had since the 1990s. They finally joined with John O'Farrell to write several songs and presented those songs and a treatment to the producer Kevin McCollum in 2010. The team then joined with Casey Nicholaw, who brought in several of the actors, resulting in the workshop in 2014. [1]
Something Rotten! was expected to have a pre-Broadway tryout at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle, Washington, in April 2015. However, when a Broadway theatre became available, Kevin McCollum decided to open the show without the Seattle tryout. "David Armstrong, artistic director of 5th Avenue Theater, said ... that after the positive buzz surrounding the musical's workshop in October [2014], he and Mr. McCollum began discussing the possibility of the show bypassing Seattle in favor of Broadway." [2] The developmental lab took place in New York City in October 2014 with Casey Nicholaw as director and choreographer. [3]
Something Rotten! began previews on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on March 23, 2015, and officially opened on April 22, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, with the sets designed by Scott Pask, costumes by Gregg Barnes and lighting by Jeff Croiter. [4] The production closed on January 1, 2017 after 742 performances. [5] It was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and won one (Christian Borle as Best Featured Actor in a Musical).
The show launched a US national tour with previews at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, New York on January 10, 2017, before officially opening at the Boston Opera House on January 17. [5] The tour cast featured Rob McClure (Nick Bottom), Adam Pascal (Shakespeare) and Josh Grisetti (Nigel Bottom). [5]
The show also launched a Non-Equity national tour beginning on September 19, 2018 at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts in Columbus, Georgia. The tour starred Matthew Janisse (Nick Bottom), Matthew Baker (Shakespeare), and Richard Spitaletta (Nigel Bottom) and was staged by Steve Bebout (associate director of the original Broadway production). [6] In June 2019, the show played a short run of June 9–30 at the Chungmu Art Center Grand Theater in Seoul, Korea, marking the final destination on the tour. [7]
A Swedish-language production ran from November 8, 2018 to March 3, 2019 at the Wermland Opera in Karlstad, Sweden, directed by Markus Virta. The translation was by Calle Norlén. [8]
A South Korean production in Korean was scheduled to run from August 7, 2020, to October 18, 2020, at the Chungmu Art Center Grand Theater. [9] Some of the performances were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [10]
A Czech-language production played for a total of 37 performances from June 19, 2021, to December 17, 2023, at Nová Scéna DJKT in Pilsen, Czech Republic. The production was directed by Lumír Olšovský. The translation was by Pavel Bár and Lumír Olšovský.[ citation needed ]
A production in Germany played from November 7, 2023 to January 14, 2024, at The English Theatre Frankfurt, directed and choreographed by Ewan Jones. [11]
The musical opens with the Minstrel welcoming the audience to the English Renaissance ("Welcome to the Renaissance"). He refers to Nick Bottom, who runs a theatre troupe with his brother Nigel. They are rehearsing for their upcoming play "Richard II", while William Shakespeare (referred to as "the Bard") is opening Romeo and Juliet . Lord Clapham, a patron who trusts the brothers and raises funds for their troupe, enters to announce that Shakespeare is doing Richard II . The news outrages Nick, as Shakespeare has already done Richard III , and the thought of going backwards seems absurd to him. He rants about his hatred of Shakespeare to the troupe members, who are horrified ("God, I Hate Shakespeare"). Lord Clapham leaves, telling the brothers he is stopping their funds unless they have another play by the next morning.
Nigel and Nick go home to their small house, and on the way Nick encounters Shylock the Jew. Shylock expresses a desire to help fund the troupe, but Nick rejects him as it is illegal to employ a Jew. Bea, Nick's wife, tells them the events of her day and how she acquired their dinner as she serves it. They are saving for a better life, and when Nick tries to open the Money Box, Bea smacks his hand away. Bea tells him how she could help them out, but Nick is ambivalent ("Right Hand Man"). Despite Nick's arguments, Bea goes out to do jobs that Nick claims are for men. As Nigel sleeps, Nick faces the real reason he hates Shakespeare: "the Bard" makes Nick feel self-conscious ("God, I Hate Shakespeare" (reprise)). He wishes there was a way to top Shakespeare, and steals from the Money Box to see a soothsayer. He finds a soothsayer named Thomas Nostradamus (the nephew of the famous soothsayer Nostradamus). Nick asks him what the next big thing in theatre will be, and Nostradamus says that it will be "a musical", a play where "an actor is saying his lines, and out of nowhere he just starts singing". Nick thinks it is ridiculous but quickly warms up to the idea ("A Musical").
Later, Nick meets Nigel on the street. Nigel has just met Portia, the daughter of Brother Jeremiah; they immediately fall in love. Nick tells him that he shouldn't pursue her because she is a Puritan. The Puritans leave and Nick tells Nigel what the soothsayer said, but neglects to tell him that it was not Nick's own idea. Nigel wants to do "The Brothers from Cornwall", the story of the two brothers' lives, but Nick vetoes saying it has to be bigger, and decides to do a play about the Black Death. The troupe performs a song for Lord Clapham ("The Black Death"), who is disgusted and deserts the troupe.
Nigel sits down to try to write a new play. Portia sneaks out to see him, and they discover more about their similarities, especially in the way they both love poetry ("I Love the Way"). A messenger arrives with an invitation for Nigel to attend Shakespeare in the Park and an after-party. Nigel explains to Portia that he sent one of his sonnets to the Bard for feedback. Nigel asks the messenger if Portia can be his "plus one".
In the park, Shakespeare performs for the people ("Will Power"). Nigel and Portia go to the after party, where Portia gets drunk. Bea tells Nick she's pregnant, and he is ecstatic about being a father. Shakespeare asks to read Nigel's journal of poems and writings, but Nick runs in with Shylock and chastises Shakespeare for trying to steal Nigel's ideas, as well as reprimanding Nigel for his naiveté. Brother Jeremiah then runs in to find a drunk Portia and once again admonishes Nigel. Desperate and out of options, Nick finally agrees to let Shylock invest in his play.
Nick goes back to Nostradamus with what he has left of the money he stole from the Money Box. He asks Nostradamus what Shakespeare's new hit is going to be. Nostradamus sees Hamlet but misinterprets it as "Omelette", among other mistakes (such as the Prince eating a danish pastry rather than being a Danish prince). Nick gets excited at the possibilities of success and dreams of a future in which crowds cheer for him and Shakespeare bows down to him ("Bottom's Gonna Be on Top").
The Minstrel welcomes the audience back and tells them of the stresses that the Bottom brothers and Shakespeare face ("Welcome to the Renaissance" (reprise)). Shakespeare shows the stress he faces while trying to write hits and manage his fame ("Hard to Be the Bard"). A spy tells him that the brothers are trying to steal Shakespeare's upcoming hit. An excited Shakespeare decides to disguise himself as "Toby Belch" and audition for the brothers' troupe in order to steal the play.
Meanwhile, the troupe is rehearsing "Omelette: The Musical" ("It's Eggs!"). Shylock has become their new investor, though they cannot find a title that would make his role legal. When some of the actors become suspicious of Nostradamus and why he is at their theatre, Nick lies and says that Nostradamus is an actor. "Toby Belch" arrives at the theatre and is hired for the company. He is surprised to learn that his hit is about eggs.
Nigel sneaks out to London Bridge to see Portia, where he reads her another poem about his love for her. He worries about their future together, but Portia reassures him by saying that everyone, even Nick and Brother Jeremiah, will change their minds about their relationship when they hear Nigel's beautiful sonnets ("We See the Light"). Nigel is not very happy with "Omelette" and claims that it does not feel right. Brother Jeremiah interrupts the lovers and takes Portia away to be imprisoned in a tower for disobeying. Saddened by the loss of his love, Nigel becomes inspired to write a completely different play that is revealed to be Hamlet.
Nigel goes into the theatre the next day and tells Nick about his new improvements. They get into a huge argument and Shakespeare tries to take advantage of their squabble to get his hit ("To Thine Own Self"). A hurt Nigel scrambles out onto the street and is confronted by Shakespeare, who steals his hit under the guise of "improving it". Later, Nigel runs into Bea, who explains to him that they should still trust Nick because they can always fall on him if they need him ("Right Hand Man" (reprise)).
Nick is having qualms about "Omelette: The Musical" as well, but dismisses these doubts once he learns that the town lined up all the way around the theatre for tickets. He and the troupe prepare for the show ("Something Rotten!"). Once the audience arrives, they perform a bombastic dance number that has many references to modern-day musicals (such as The Lion King and The Phantom of the Opera ) ("Make an Omelette"). Towards the end of the number, Shakespeare reveals himself and sues the brothers. The troupe and Nigel find out that Nostradamus is a soothsayer, and are horrified.
In court, Shylock, Nick, Nigel, and Nostradamus are on trial and are about to be sentenced to beheading when Bea enters disguised as a lawyer. She makes Nick confess that he stole from the Money Box and tells the judge that beheading him would be redundant because he has already lost his head. She has made a deal with Shakespeare that they will be exiled to America ("To Thine Own Self:" (reprise)). She says that they always wanted a new country house and they are getting a house in a new country. Portia then arrives, having escaped the tower. She renounces her father's ideals and joins the Bottoms, Shylock, and Nostradamus in exile.
They arrive in America and tell the audience of the new opportunities in the New World ("Finale"). Nick hears about the opening of Shakespeare's new masterpiece, Hamlet, to which Nostradamus replies "I was this close".
Source: [12]
|
|
Ghostlight Records released the Original Broadway Cast Album of Something Rotten! on June 2, 2015 in digital music stores and July 17, 2015 on CD. [13]
In the recording, "Something Rotten!" and "Make an Omelette" are combined into one track because of the brevity of the former.
The show includes references to numerous musicals. For example, during the song "A Musical", "Nostradamus and the chorus men don sailor hats, which harkens to several nautical-themed musicals, including South Pacific , Anything Goes , On the Town and Dames at Sea ." [14] The TheaterMania reviewer noted that the song "A Musical" "encapsulates the entire book-musical form in six hilarious minutes. It's so chock-full of witty references and energetic dance; it's hard to see how it could be topped." [15] Variety also pointed out that the song "A Musical" "simultaneously celebrates and sends up everything we hold dear about this peculiar art form, from the 'jazzy hands' of Bob Fosse to the synchronized line dancing of the Rockettes." [16]
The original casts of the major-market productions are as follows:
Character | Original Broadway Cast (2015) [17] | US National Tour (2017-18) [18] |
---|---|---|
Nick Bottom | Brian d'Arcy James | Rob McClure |
Nigel Bottom | John Cariani | Josh Grisetti |
William Shakespeare | Christian Borle | Adam Pascal |
Bea | Heidi Blickenstaff | Maggie Lakis |
Portia | Kate Reinders | Autumn Hurlbert |
Nostradamus | Brad Oscar | Blake Hammond |
Brother Jeremiah | Brooks Ashmanskas | Scott Cote |
Shylock | Gerry Vichi | Jeff Brooks |
Lorde Clapham / Judge | Peter Bartlett | Joel Newsome/Patrick John Moran |
Minstrel | Michael James Scott | Nick Rashad Burroughs |
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | ||||
Tony Award [19] | Best Musical | Nominated | ||
Best Book of a Musical | Karey Kirkpatrick & John O'Farrell | Nominated | ||
Best Original Score | Karey Kirkpatrick & Wayne Kirkpatrick | Nominated | ||
Best Leading Actor in a Musical | Brian d'Arcy James | Nominated | ||
Best Featured Actor in a Musical | Christian Borle | Won | ||
Brad Oscar | Nominated | |||
Best Costume Design of a Musical | Gregg Barnes | Nominated | ||
Best Direction of a Musical | Casey Nicholaw | Nominated | ||
Best Choreography | Nominated | |||
Best Orchestrations | Larry Hochman | Nominated | ||
Drama Desk Award [20] | Outstanding Musical | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Brian d'Arcy James | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Christian Borle | Won | ||
Brad Oscar | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Director of a Musical | Casey Nicholaw | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Choreography | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Lyrics | Karey & Wayne Kirkpatrick | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Book of a Musical | Karey Kirkpatrick & John O'Farrell | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Orchestrations | Larry Hochman | Nominated | ||
Outer Critics Circle Award [21] | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Book of a Musical | Karey Kirkpatrick & John O'Farrell | Nominated | ||
Outstanding New Score | Karey & Wayne Kirkpatrick | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Director of a Musical | Casey Nicholaw | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Choreographer | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Set Design | Scott Pask | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Costume Design | Gregg Barnes | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Lighting Design | Jeff Croiter | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Christian Borle | Nominated | ||
Brian d'Arcy James | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | John Cariani | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Heidi Blickenstaff | Nominated | ||
Drama League Award | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Nominated | ||
Distinguished Performance Award | Christian Borle | Nominated | ||
Brian d'Arcy James | Nominated | |||
2016 | Grammy Award | Best Musical Theater Album | Blickenstaff, Borle, Cariani, James, Oscar & Kate Reinders (principal soloists); Kurt Deutsch, K. & W. Kirkpatrick, Lawrence Manchester, Kevin McCollum & Phil Reno (producers); K. & W. Kirkpatrick (composers/lyricists) | Nominated |
The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan on behalf of Bassanio, his dear friend, provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Bella and Samuel Spewack. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and the conflict on and off-stage between Fred Graham, the show's director, producer, and star, and his leading lady, his ex-wife Lilli Vanessi. A secondary romance concerns Lois Lane, the actress playing Bianca, and her gambler boyfriend, Bill, who runs afoul of some gangsters. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a 2004 musical comedy, with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Jeffrey Lane; it is based on the 1988 film of the same name. The musical premiered on Broadway in 2005 and ran for 626 performances despite mixed reviews. It has since received tours and international productions. The Australian production opened in 2013 to rave reviews and was called the "best musical to hit Sydney this century" by The Sydney Morning Herald. A West End production opened in 2014 to generally warm reviews.
The Merchant of Venice is a 2004 romantic drama film based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. It is the first full-length sound film in English of Shakespeare's play—other versions are videotaped productions which were made for television, including John Sichel's 1973 version and Jack Gold's 1980 BBC production.
Desmond Barrit is a Welsh actor, best known for his stage work.
Christian Dominique Borle is an American actor and singer. He is a two-time Tony Award winner for his roles as Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher and as William Shakespeare in Something Rotten! Borle also originated the roles of Prince Herbert, et al. in Spamalot, Emmett in Legally Blonde, and Joe in Some Like It Hot on Broadway. He starred as Marvin in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos. He also starred as Tom Levitt on the NBC musical-drama television series Smash and Vox in the dark-comedy musical Hazbin Hotel.
Matthew Sklar is an American composer for musical theatre, television, and film. His works have appeared on Broadway, the West End, and theatres worldwide. Sklar has written primarily with lyricist Chad Beguelin, having written music for their Broadway shows The Prom, Elf the Musical, and The Wedding Singer. The Prom and The Wedding Singer earned him nominations for the Tony Award for Best Original Score.
Brian d'Arcy James is an American actor and musician. He is known primarily for his Broadway roles, including Shrek in Shrek the Musical, Nick Bottom in Something Rotten!, King George III in Hamilton, and the Baker in Into the Woods, and has received four Tony Award nominations for his work. On-screen, he is known for his recurring role as Andy Baker on the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, Officer Krupke in West Side Story, and reporter Matt Carroll in Spotlight.
Kate Reinders is an American actress and singer, who has performed as lead and understudy in several Broadway shows.
Robert Martin is a television and musical theatre actor and writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Brad Oscar is an American musical theatre actor, known for his Broadway performances in musicals such as The Producers, Something Rotten!, Big Fish, Spamalot, The Addams Family, Mrs. Doubtfire and Wicked.
Autumn Marie Hurlbert is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Hurlbert is best known as the runner-up on the reality competition series Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Woods. After taping the competition, Hurlbert served as a member of the Broadway cast in Legally Blonde: The Musical until its closing on Oct 19, 2008. She also understudied the parts of Elle and Margot on Broadway. Ultimately, Hurlbert did headline as Elle Woods in an October 2012 version of the production, directed by Denis Jones in North Carolina.
Casey Nicholaw is an American theatre director, choreographer, and performer. He has been nominated for several Tony Awards for his work directing and choreographing The Drowsy Chaperone (2006), The Book of Mormon (2011), Aladdin (2014), Something Rotten! (2015), Mean Girls (2018), The Prom (2019), and Some Like It Hot (2023) and for choreographing Monty Python's Spamalot (2005), winning for his co-direction of The Book of Mormon with Trey Parker and his choreography of Some Like It Hot. He also was nominated for the Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Direction and Choreography for The Drowsy Chaperone (2006) and Something Rotten! (2015) and for Outstanding Choreography for Spamalot (2005).
Josh Grisetti is an American actor, director and author who works in theatre, television and film.
David Hibbard is an American stage performer, primarily known for Broadway musicals and television commercial voiceovers. Since 1999, Hibbard has been a teacher of vocal performance and audition technique at Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21), once affiliated with New York University Tisch School of the Arts and now a part of Molloy College in Rockville Centre, Long Island with studio space at Molloy College Manhattan Center.
Honeymoon in Vegas is a musical with a book by Andrew Bergman and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The musical is based on the 1992 movie of the same name which Bergman also wrote and directed. The musical had its world premiere at the Paper Mill Playhouse and premiered on Broadway in January 2015.
Rob McClure is an American actor and singer, best known for his work on the Broadway stage.
Finding Neverland is a musical with music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy and a book by James Graham adapted from the 1998 play The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee and its 2004 film version Finding Neverland. An early version of the musical made its world premiere at the Curve Theatre in Leicester in 2012 with a book by Allan Knee, music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie. A reworked version with the current writing team made its world premiere in 2014 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Following completion of its Cambridge run, the production transferred to Broadway in March 2015.
Shylock is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice. A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal villain. His defeat and conversion to Christianity form the climax of the story.
Marisha Wallace is an American actress and singer, best known for her work in musical theatre.