By Camille Siegel
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
It’s been awhile since I was at a Broadway show, perhaps because the tickets are so expensive nowadays and so many shows bleed into the next with revivals that after a while I really don’t want to cough up $100 dollars up for a ticket unless the cast is so stellar, I will sell my right arm to see the show.
But recently, I was more than pleasantly surprised to see the show Something Rotten at the St. James Theatre.
To begin with, I had no idea what the show was about going into the theater, as my friend got me a ticket at the last-minute and I agreed to go. Since I was pressed for time to research the story, I was truly in the dark–in this case, I was elated to find a gem of a show.
No wonder the show is a hit!
It’s been a long time since I was at a musical where I was laughing and clapping all the way through. And to see the audience standing on their feet at half time and at the end of the curtain call was a true delight.
The premise of Something Rotten is the hilarious story of two brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom (played by Brian D’arcy James and John Cariani), who are playwrights and are trying to compete with the great Shakespeare (played by the amusing Christian Borle), known as the “Bard,” who in this show comes off as a rock star with an ego to boot.
Enter a local quack soothsayer, Nostradamus, hilariously played by Brad Oscar, who predicts that a “musical, pronounced mooosical” is the way to go. And all laughing begins!
Clever costumes, choreography and brilliant performances by the great cast make this show the must-see for the spring season on Broadway.
Mark my words, you will be laughing all the way out of the theater.
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CHAUCER'S CORNER 