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In classic fashion, Slow Burn Theatre Company’s current production of Something Rotten! at the Amaturo Theater of the Broward Center is a fast-paced and utterly hilarious celebration of the theater, musicals, and everything Shakespeare. With another outstanding cast, memorable choreography, and razor-sharp comedy, the company’s latest is one of their greatest to-date. The infectious atmosphere and energy of Broadway can be found in every scene and every song, all while bringing forth laughter from every mouth in the audience. If you enjoy anything theatrical, I guarantee you’ll enjoy this one, too.
When one enters into the theater, the audience-goer is first immersed into the experience of Renaissance Europe, circa 1590, by a large stone-looking arch that frames the stage. The combination of work from Scenic Designer S. Benjamin Farrar, Lighting Designer Eric Norbury, and Technical Director Timothy S. Dickey is one of Slow Burn’s most formidable assets; each production in recent memory with grander and grander accessories and environments. Perhaps because I sat in the fourth row, looking slightly up at each actor in their element, but the costumes for Something Rotten! was a step above everything else I’ve seen from the company. The way that costumes were changed in prompt fashion, utilizing multiple layers for character changes in the ensemble, keeping an illusion of London in the era of Shakespeare, absolutely blew me away.
The specific story of this production centers around two playwriting brothers by the names of Nick (Woodrow Jackson Helms) and Nigel (Tyler Manemeit) Bottom who are trying to find success and fame in the era of Shakespeare (Ralph Meitzler), who we know now in the 21st century as one of, if not the, greatest English-language writers of all time. Each piece and part that they write is eclipsed by whatever the famous Will is doing, all while Romeo & Juliet is on stage for the first time in history. Truly, this kind of story is like cake and candy for a theater history buff. In an effort to get ahead of his fame, Nick goes to a soothsayer by the name of Thomas Nostradamus (Ryan Crout), and this interaction produces some of the funniest material to ever grace a stage. Nostradamus looks into the future to see what Shakespeare’s greatest work will be, but he mispronounces “Hamlet” as “Omelette,” and the hilarity continues to spiral out from there, spawning a musical about eggs.
The musical performances of Slow Burn’s Something Rotten! were also extraordinary, featuring great numbers like: “A Musical;” “God, I Hate Shakespeare;” “Welcome to the Renaissance;” and “Hard to Be the Bard.” Choreography by Nicolette Quintero was also on-point, with multiple numbers influenced by the dances of the stage, like the can-can for example. This blending of Elizabethan aesthetics with the knowledge of the 21st century makes for an infectious production for anyone and everyone. Other outstanding performances come from the Puritans, played by Michael Dean Morgan (my personal favorite), Kristi Rose Mills (Portia), and others, Slow Burn’s Executive Director Matthew W. Korinko (who appears in many of the company’s shows), and Nick Bottom’s wife, Bea (Leah Sessa). Their comedic timing and utterly impressive vocals coalesce to make Something Rotten! stand a head and shoulder above almost every other production this entire theatrical season in South Florida.
Be warned before going into this show: there are countless numbers of references to other plays and musicals littered throughout the storyline, enumerated in song, dance, and dialogue. There are homages to The Sound of Music, The Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the Roof, Hamlet, Cabaret, West Side Story, and even The Lion King (which ran concurrently at the Broward through Broadway Across America). While most theater-goers will absolutely recognize this litany of references to the genres greatest, the average person may begin to feel ostracized from the overload of outside information needed to grasp certain comedic elements. This is not so much a critique of the production, but a corn kernel of a fact that might help someone understand what is not explained through the references. Absolutely hilarious if you catch them all, though.
Slow Burn Theatre Company’s Something Rotten! runs through April 13 at the Broward Center in Ft. Lauderdale. Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a laugh by breaking some eggs.
The post There’s ‘Something Rotten’ in Broward… and It’s Delightfully Hilarious! appeared on South Florida Theater.
