Music carries ‘Something Rotten’

By: 
Charity Wessel

Driving through Custer State Park to the Playhouse Aug. 10, I was behind a few other vehicles also on their way to see the opening matinee of “Something Rotten.” It was not a sold-out show and they were still welcoming walk-ins. The Playhouse’s snack shack was especially a respite as I’d skipped lunch and thankfully the snacks are allowed inside the newly air conditioned theater.
After a few handfuls of delicious popcorn, the show began with the personable touch of an off-stage entrance. “Something Rotten” is set in the Renaissance era, yet the play’s music has a contemporary, catchy feel. I noticed a few women in the audience ahead of me were even seat-dancing at times.  
And this play’s music, I feel, is its most entertaining aspect. One of the musicians who wrote “Something Rotten” is Wayne Kirkpatrick, sidekick to ultra-famous musician Amy Grant. Musically, “Something Rotten” rocked. The audience is able to see the play’s incredible musicians the entire time because the drummer, pianists and bassist are actually part of the set. These musicians are backlit the whole show and not relegated to an orchestra pit as is often the case in musical theater.
These four musicians carried the show and were the true stars; they produced such a full sound and flawlessly performed two and a half hours of live music.
After the show, my row happened to exit at the same moment these musicians were going out their stage door and I felt star struck seeing the bassist in front of me. A female patron also fan-girled to the pianists telling them they did a great job. Similarly, I heard nearby audience members complimenting the actors’ choreography and a few people noted excitement in seeing actresses they recognized from other plays.
So, musically, I see “Something Rotten” in the win column, but the plot of “Something Rotten” is another matter entirely. I accept the egg on my face if I’m in the minority, but I feel this play’s plotline was just lost somewhere on the writers’ cutting floor.
The play’s gist is that two brothers and a fortune teller partner to write a play, and Shakespeare tries to dissolve their success. Seeing that “Something Rotten” was nominated for several Tony awards, I acknowledge that my childhood piano lessons don’t make me the ultimate musical theater expert. Yet it’s honest to say that I left the play feeling some disappointment; the play was alright with only a few scenes that wowed.
To be fair, throughout the play, there were bursts of snortingly-funny moments and many of the witty, ironic jokes received authentic audience laughter. However, as a whole, the plot itself dragged on with the main character wandering around scene after scene with essentially a question mark over his head.   
After the intermission, the play’s plot still had a brain-off feel and its dilemmas just sorta resolved in a looking-at-our-watch manner. The question mark over the head of the protagonist was replaced with a lightbulb—and then in the next moment, the crowd was giving it a standing ovation. While many people were gushing bravos, I clapped and thought, “Well, maybe you just need to read the book to get it.”
Overall, I felt it was a happy way to spend the afternoon and I see the Playhouse’s “Something Rotten” as an entertaining musical performance where the actors worked well within a plotline that seems unsure of itself. “Something Rotten” is most memorably a musical, and its four-piece band’s music shines. The Playhouse itself remains a triple threat for it can definitely act, sing and dance.

 

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