THERE’S SOMETHING GOOD IN ROTTEN
So you’re a somewhat-talented duo of playwrights, living in 1595 England, with actors eager to work with you and a benefactor hiring you to produce a play. What could go wrong? Well, there’s this other guy named William Shakespeare in town and not only is he pretty good at it, but he’s a conniving, egotistical, ruthless scoundrel who will happily steal your ideas. Bizarre base for a plot? Yes, and that’s only the beginning of this delightful, mischievous musical that Wildsong Productions is offering at its Theatre and Arts Collective in Ocean beach.
The writing duo in Something Rotten consists of two brothers: Married, more-responsible, business-focused Nick Bottom (Shane Hennessey) and his tag-along younger brother Nigel (Odie Hymas). Nigel is actually the far stronger writer, having followed the career and writing style of their former ally Will Shakespeare (Michael Harrison) and produces better higher quality work. Nick is frustrated by everyone constantly swooning over Will (“God, I Hate Shakespeare”). Literally, when Shakespeare struts with Elvis-like bravado, women get all a-flutter as he verbally casts couplets at them.
The pair’s benefactor (Rachel Mink) tells them that they have one day to come up with something brilliant. Desperate, Nick consults with a psychic, Thomas Nostradamus (Shaun Lim), the nephew of the famed great seer. Thomas isn’t a fraud; he does indeed see into the future. He just doesn’t do it really well and comes up with befuddled vision of what we, the audience, know to be true about the future of theater. Nick begs him to give him the plot points of whatever will be Will’s greatest play in the future. Thomas obliges, introducing Nick to a new art form in the show-stopping number, “A Musical.” That he gets right. But when Thomas doesn’t get everything right about the future (e.g., Shakespeare never produced any musicals), it leads to the boys trying to craft a musical.
Nick’s attempt to stage Thomas’s messed-up vision gives choreographers Jennika Grace and Brooke Aliceon lots of room to play with; fun ensemble routines, relying heavily on tap numbers that work well for the most part, include a fun argument in iambic pentameter between Will and Nick where they tap out every word that they say. Mx. Lim is terrific as the kooky Thomas, gleefully sharing tidbits of future visions that don’t fully make sense even to him (“Cats! There’s going to be singing cats!”) Ms. Aliceon also gets to have a lot of fun with ensemble costuming, especially at the end of one big number where some outrageous outfits got a big laugh upon their dancing entrance.
In her third role here, Ms. Aliceon’s direction is fast paced — the 75-minute first act flew by with plenty of laughs. Mr. Hennessey is strong as the stubborn but well-meaning Nick and has a pleasant voice to share his hopes and woes. Mr. Harrison is in his element, being dastardly and self-aggrandizing. Mr. Hymas touches us with his gentle interpretation of the real artist who has shuffled along in his brother’s shadow and Esmé Birndorf adds levity as a Puritan girl Nigel falls for.
Brothers Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick came up with lyrics that they used in collaboration with John O’Farrell to create the show’s book, which they all bravely took straight to a Broadway opening in 2015. It understandably did quite well with 742 performance yielding ten Tony nominations and one win. While Wildsong may not have the space to pull off the Tony-level show, this is a great way to catch a Broadway show you’ve never seen.
photos courtesy of Wildsong
Something Rotten
Wildsong Productions
Wildsong Theatre and Arts Collective
4944 Newport Ave. in Ocean Beach, San Diego
Thurs, Fri & Sat at 8; Sun at 3
ends on October 13, 2024
for tickets, visit Wildsong