In the world of theater, Shakespeare and musicals are not usually associated with each other. However, Something Rotten!, a new musical comedy that opened this spring in the St. James Theater on Broadway, has challenged this notion. Directed by Casey Nicholow, the mind behind several other Broadway musical comedy hit, such as The Book of Mormon, Something Rotten! has an absurdly silly, over-the-top feel to it. The show creatively inserts elements of the Renaissance, including Shakespeare’s popularity, sexism and wardrobe choices such as codpieces and doublets, into a laugh-out-loud musical. 

Something Rotten! focuses on the Bottom brothers (one of the countless Shakespearean puns and jokes scattered throughout the show), who are writers living in Shakespeare’s shadow who desperately need to produce a new theatrical hit. Nick Bottom’s  (Brian D’arcy James) determination to be better than Shakespeare leads him to a soothsayer, a type of psychic, who tells him that the new big thing  will be musicals and that Shakespeare’s next big hit will be “Omelette.” While Nick is caught up in the chaos of creating a show about breakfast that is also the world’s first musical, he, unlike Shakespeare, ignores the masterpiece his brother creates. 

Nick’s visit to the soothsayer, and his eventual production that is inspired by the soothsayer’s predictions, are memorable and vibrant odes to both musicals and their fans.  Brad Oscar plays the eccentric yet endearing Soothsayer called Nostradamus—the cousin of the famous Nostradamus. In the number “A Musical,” Nostradamus explains to Nick all of the unique qualities of musicals, such as sung words that could have been spoken, elaborate dance breaks and synchronized tap dancing. Musical pride is blatantly stated in the lyrics, from “A Musical”—“nothing’s as amazing as a musical.” An added layer of humor comes from the cast cleverly breaking the fourth wall by acting out the components of a musical as they are described. 

There are numerous musical theater references in Nick’s musical within a musical. Using Nostradamus’ visions, Nick creates a hilariously disjointed show that draws on key elements from musicals such as The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Sound of Music. 

A compelling draw of the show is observing Shakespeare as a modern-day celebrity rather than as one of the great playwrights of history. Christian Borle won the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of a vain yet lovable Shakespeare. Borle makes his dramatic entrance on a raised platform as a literal rockstar singing famous lines from his plays and sonnets to a roaring and fainting crowd. Although Shakespeare is most definitely conceited and expects praise for every word that he speaks, he also garners a sense of respect and empathy. During “It’s Hard to be the Bard,” he sings of the burden of being so famous, of having such great expectations placed upon him and of the difficulties of the writing process. As Shakespeare says, “[I’ve got] fortune and fame everyone knows my name / I just can’t help it, it’s still frickin hard.” It is fascinating to watch a version of Shakespeare who is in the middle of his career and is struggling with writers block that will eventually end in some of his more famous works, such as Hamlet.

Something Rotten! provides an interesting take on how other writers during this era may have felt about having to compete against Shakespeare in his prime. Nick, as a representation of a typical writer, establishes his feelings towards Shakespeare early on with his song “God, I Hate Shakespeare.” The spirited feud is a major thread of the show and the production uses inventive ways to display their grudges. During the song “Bottom’s Gonna Be on Top,” Shakespeare and Nick argue by hurling insults consisting of well-written prose at each other, accompanied by tap dance.

The show stays somewhat historically accurate. Nick’s wife Bea (Heidi Blickenstaff) illustrates the time period’s gender roles when she tries to help their financial situation by dressing up as a man to get a better-paying job. Nigel Bottom (John Cariani) falls in love with the daughter of a Puritan and has to fight to be with her because of her Puritan values. When Nick is given advice to write a song in his musical about what he knows, he comes up with a lively song about the plague called “Black Death.”  While it may not have been completely historically accurate to have Shakespeare narcissistically singing his plays to throngs of screaming crowds, Something Rotten! is certainly a fun depiction of the Renaissance.