Shakespeare as a rock star. A soothsayer who isn’t sure if the Nazis are going to turn out to be good or bad. The first Jewish investor in a show.
Mix these and other characters, both sublime and ridiculous, together and you have the premise of Something Rotten, if a show this filled with theater inside jokes can have a premise. This show leaves you breathless in the best way possible. The cast, led by Brian D’Arcy James and John Cariani as down-on-their luck playwrights the Bottom brothers, and Christian Borle as the aforementioned Shakespeare, are exuberant in this go-for-broke musical about the making of the first musical. Not to give anything away, the musical is about some eggs because the soothsayer foresees Shakespeare writing a show about something that sounds like the name of the Prince of Denmark. (Got that?)
The jokes sometimes come so fast and furious that you wish you could hit the rewind button. The dancing is superb and it was a joy to watch something by equal measures smart but ever-so-funny. Something Rotten had the audience eating out of its hand and enjoying every morsel. AFW
Something Rotten, St James Theatre, 246 W 44 Street
Tickets: $37-142 (discounts available at Broadwaybox.com and Theatermania.com)
Runs thru: Open-ended. Currently selling tickets through 9/6/15
Running Time: 2 hours & 30 minutes, including intermission
