The Saturday matinee performance I attended featured at least three of the most sustained moments of audience appreciation that I’ve ever experienced. Despite the fact that this show is set in Elizabethan England — the opening number is “Welcome to the Renaissance” — there’s nothing esoteric about it. In fact, the whole musical is about seeing both Shakespeare and musicals from a very modern perspective and wringing every possible drop of humor out of the details and inconsistencies.
Here’s how it works: It’s the 1590s and brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom (Rob McClure and Josh Grisetti) are playwrights who can’t seem to get it right. (If the name Nick Bottom sounds familiar, that’s because it’s swiped from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in which he’s the foolish weaver who decides he can stage a play.) Making matters worse, an upstart actor who Nick suggested try his hand at writing has become the toast of the London stage. In fact, whenever he’s mentioned, Shakespeare’s name evokes a choral paean that sounds as if angels are praising his very existence.
He’s an arrogant, preening Rock star whose every movement is viewed with fawning attention. (Adam Pascal has this role on tour; he was Roger in the original Broadway production of Rent — so he is a kind of Rock star!)
Shakespeare’s fame sticks in Nick’s craw. Plus, his devoted wife Bea (Maggie Lakis) wants a career, and his nervous, sensitive brother has a shortage of self-confidence about his ability to craft the words for a hit — despite the beautiful poetry he effortlessly cranks out. Money is tight, and then Bea announces she’s pregnant.
In desperation, Nick seeks advice from a questionable soothsayer Thomas Nostradamus (Blake Hammond), not the legendary seer but his loony nephew. His prophecy of theater’s next big thing: “A Musical.” Nick is mystified why audiences would love actors suddenly bursting into song and dance, but instantly the stage is flooded with singing, dancing actors.
It’s a meta, self-referential sequence, a hilarious compendium of snatches of familiar Broadway numbers and riffs on melodies and moments that are instantaneously recognizable. Nostradamus predicts that a chorus kick-line will evoke applause; one is formed — and the audience responds. A thunderous tap number is all the funnier because chorus members are attired in pseudo-Elizabethan costumes.
I don’t want to spoil the fun by giving too much away. Nick’s first stab at a musical, “The Black Death,” clearly misses the mark. So he’s back to Nostradamus for a sure-fire hit idea. What he gets is off-kilter in a ridiculously wrong-headed way, leading to another silly mash-up of musical theater name- and character-checks that has audiences laughing uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, Shakespeare’s fame continues to grate (“Will Power” is all about his ability to win the affection of the adoring masses), even as he struggles for good ideas (“Hard to Be the Bard”). A few more story lines heighten the humor: Nigel falls in love with Portia (Autumn Hurlbert), a sweet, poetry-loving Puritan. Their duet, “I Love the Way,” is sweet and amusing. Their attraction dismays her prudish father, Brother Jeremiah (Scott Cote), whose disapproval of the theater is a thin mask barely hiding his actual inclinations.
Something Rotten! is performed on a resplendently colorful stage designed by Scott Pask and with an energetic cast who never stop changing the exaggerated Elizabethan costumes designed by Gregg Barnes. (Shakespeare and his entourage wear tight black leather pants with pronounced codpieces, just in case you missed his sex appeal.)
I caught this show on Broadway in 2015. This is as faithful a touring production as I’ve seen in a long time. I wondered if audiences would warm to the inside-theater jokes. Ten minutes into Something Rotten!, I knew I was witnessing something wonderful. This is one of the most entertaining shows you’re likely to see.
SOMETHING ROTTEN!, presented by Broadway in Cincinnati at the Aronoff Center, continues through March 5. More info/tickets: cincinnati.broadway.com.
