Something Rotten
There's a musical about two guys writing a musical. It's filled with musical theatre "in-crowd" references. Heidi Blickenstaff is a featured player. It's an original, on Broadway. Only this time, it's much more than four chairs and a keyboard, and there's a bigger budget. Where [title of show] looked for the emotional touchstones of creating a musical—creating anything, really—the original musical Something Rotten looks for opportunities to (lovingly) lampoon the art form. That isn't exactly a dig. Something Rotten is a hilarious love letter to the theatre, with tongue firmly in cheek. It was conceived by brothers Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick , both of whom wrote the score. (The book is by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell .) Set in 1595, the story focuses on the Bottom brothers, Nick (Brian d'Arcy James) and Nigel (John Cariani), two writers overshadowed by rock star writer William Shakespeare (Christian Borle). Looking for success, ...