Fresh from its Broadway run, the smash hit musical Something Rotten! is now at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia until March 4. Part of the Kimmel Center’s Broadway Philadelphia season, Something Rotten! Is one of the best things you can see this year in Philadelphia, so don’t miss it.
Something Rotten! Was nominated for ten Tony Awards and for good reason, since it is the most gay-fabulous musical ever! Where else can you see tap-dancing Elizabethans, leather-clad go-go boys backing up a rock star like William Shakespeare, and countless musical theatre puns? The answer: only when you see Something Rotten! The same guys who brought you the hit shows Aladdin, The Book of Mormon, Rent, and Avenue Q, now bring a fresh, new musical comedy that’s set at least 300 years ago. Unlikely as it sounds, there’s nothing academic or didactic about the musical. It’s unapologetically homoerotic, bubbling over with ingenuity. Are there any sights gayer than dancing eggs and dancing omelettes? If you’re still not convinced, there’s plenty more to experience. If you know a smattering of Shakespeare, you might get a few puns, but there are musical theatre puns galore. Tongue-in-cheek humor abounds, as in the two lead characters being the Bottom Brothers, and the soothsayer is Nostradamus; no, not that Nostradamus, but his relative, Thomas Nostradamus. Something Rotten! is bawdy, witty, and a great time for folks aged 15 to 105.
Three cast members from the Broadway run include Rob McClure as Nick Bottom, Adam Pascal as Shakespeare, and Josh Grisetti as Nigel Bottom. All three actors are exceptionally fine in their roles. Both Blake Hammond as Thomas Nostradamus and Scott Cole as Brother Jeremiah are camp heroes. If you don’t laugh at Brother Jeremiah’s onstage capers and stage business, close up shop, take down your gay shingle, and become a Republican.
The live orchestra is richly textured and exciting to hear, the sets and costumes are gay fabulous, the sound and lighting are first-rate, the music and lyrics are upbeat and stylish, never containing a dull moment, and all the cast members are troupers who give it their all.
Hooray for Something Rotten!
Something Rotten! is at the Philadelphia Academy of Music until March 4. The next Broadway Philadelphia production at the Kimmel Center will be School of Rock.
For more information and to purchase tickets call 215-893-1999 or visit www.kimmelcenter.org .
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