It's hard to be the Bard: 5 things to know about 'Something Rotten' before it opens at Civic
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Kristina McCloskey directs a lot of Shakespeare, but directing a musical comedy with Shakespeare as a central character was new for her. In "Something Rotten,” it’s not only hard to be the Bard but to beat the Bard.
“It's a little different,” McCloskey says about South Bend Civic Theatre's production that opens July 15. “It’s about Shakespeare, but it's not quite Shakespeare."
With a book by John O’Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick and music and lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick, the storyline follows two brothers, Nigel and Nick Bottom, as they struggle to rise to the top of the playwriting scene in 1595 Renaissance England.
On their journey, they encounter countless obstacles — arguments, romantic tangles, writer’s block — but none is as defining as Nick’s ceaseless desire to write a play that can compete with Shakespeare’s popular hits. A prophecy from a soothsayer leads Nick down a path to try to write the world’s first musical, much to Nigel’s dismay.
“Something Rotten” will run the next three weekends at Civic.
Going to the show? Here’s five things to know before the opening number.
The rise and relevance of William Shakespeare is central to the plot
Right away in the first scene of the first act, the townspeople are fawning over the Bard, celebrating his popular works and chanting “We love him.” But not everyone loves Shakespeare, as is soon evident through the introduction of Nick Bottom, a playwright struggling to get out of his contemporary’s shadow, and a Puritan father who prohibits the reading of poems in his family.
More Arts: Fire Arts holds outdoor sale of older works July 16
The plot also exposes strains on the Bard himself as he struggles to write his next hit. (That is revealed to be "Hamlet.")
Aaron Nichols, Civic's executive director, says he hopes the musical will remind people of the spirit of Shakespeare, who was known to be bawdy and ridiculous in his time.
“I do think some people have become so reverent of Shakespeare that they forget that he was writing his plays for a bunch of, you know, drunken people staggering into The Globe,” Nichols says. “Everyman humor is part of Shakespeare's DNA, and I think that the writers of this musical have honored that true spirit of Shakespeare.”
References to Shakespeare’s lines are constant throughout and will be recognized by Shakespeare super fans as “inside jokes,” Nichols says, but that it shouldn’t deter away those not as familiar with his works.
But it’s about more than Shakespeare
It’s also about musicals.
“There’s a big, giant number that just, not necessarily name checks, but melody checks, a lot of different musicals,” Nichols says and adds that he thinks fans of musicals will love it as much as fans of Shakespeare.
McCloskey says it’s the perfect blend between every Shakespeare-lover's dream and enough references for any musical theater nerd, adding that the audience is getting “the best of both worlds.”
And it’s about society, Nichols says. He added that whether people like it or not, Shakespeare has become part of the fabric of the world.
“Many of us have, if not seen Shakespeare plays, have seen plays that have been inspired by Shakespeare plays,” Nichols says.
2022 South Bend festivals and concerts:To keep your summer full of fun
There’s dance numbers — a lot of them
Although the music takes centerstage, dance was not an afterthought in “Something Rotten,” with nine dance numbers in all.
“A Musical” showcases the possibilities of musical numbers and includes a chorus line, “Will Power” features the ensemble rocking out at a Shakespeare reading, and in “The Black Death,” troupe members dance in a scene reenacting the historic plague.
To honor the lyric and melody references from various musicals, including “Annie” and “Jesus Christ Superstar,” show choreographer Nathan Mittleman says iconic styles from those productions were incorporated into the choreography.
“There are so many little nuggets right in the show,” he says.
Tap dancing is prominent in the show, a style Mittleman loves. He says that although some cast members were experienced in tap, it was not a requirement to audition and some started from scratch.
Rooted in history with a modern feel
Within the first five minutes of the show, it’s evident the 2015 musical was written in the past. Characters walk on stage as embodiments of the Renaissance wearing long gowns with corsets, stockings and hats with overdone feathers. But then the cast talks about the wonders of freezing meat, earning a laugh from the 21st-century audience.
Nichols explains the jokes were clearly written with a modern audience in mind.
“They’re fresh and silly … and written with a lot of inside jokes to modern situations,” he said.
Painting the town: South Bend hosts first-ever mural festival. Here's what to know.
Even though the inventions and technologies of the time period are common now, Nichols says, the constant changing of the status quo is something he thinks people will be able to relate to.
Lines in the play are written in modern speech, and even Shakespeare has a more modern style, wearing a black leather jacket for the show and deemed “Biker Shakespeare” by a fellow cast member.
It’s ‘silly’ but has a message on identity
Silly. Buoyant. Wacky. Goofy.
All those words are used to describe Act I of “Something Rotten.” But when Act II comes around, the show takes a turn as the Bottom brothers argue over the direction of their work — with Nigel wanting to stay true to their personal message and Nick wanting to chase fame.
“The whole center of the show is about someone trying to be something that they're not or going after something because they think that's what seems to be the best or that's what looks the best,” the director, McCloskey, says.
She says yes, the show has its fair share of wacky characters and jokes, but it also implores the audience to look inward.
“It's one of those shows that feels so goofy and comical but sneaks in that little heart message towards the end to listen to themselves or ‘to thine own self be true,’” McCloskey says.
Onstage
What: "Something Rotten"
When: 7:30 p.m. July 15-16, 20-23 and 29-30 and at 2 p.m. July 17, 24 and 31
Where: South Bend Civic Theatre, 403 N. Main St., South Bend
Cost: $32-$27
For more information: Call 574-234-1112 or visit sbct.org.
Email Alysa Guffey at aguffey1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlysaGuffeyNews.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Civic Theatre's 'Something Rotten': 5 things to know
