SOMETHING ROTTEN

BDT STAGE: FEBRUARY 25 – APRIL 21

 

BDT Stage’s production of “Something Rotten” is a joyous comic romp sending up all things Shakespeare, Broadway, and especially HAMLET!  It’s Tons of Fun!!!  So, I will just misquote the Bard and say: “Get thee to a Funnery!”

 

“Something Rotten” has music and lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick and a book by John O’Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick. Opening on Broadway in 2015, it was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

     Set in 1595 England, aspiring playwright brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom compete with Shakespeare for fame and fortune.

     Attempting to stay one step ahead of the Bard, they fail to realize that Shakespeare begs, borrows, and steals his material from his contemporaries as well as the playwrights of antiquity.

     Methinks therein lieth the plot.

     Bob Hoppe and Brian Cronan play the boisterous Bottom brothers, Nick, and Nigel respectively. 

       Hoppe is well known to musical theatregoers over the last couple of decades. He’s become a Colorado favorite for his work at BDT Stage, Country Dinner Playhouse and Candlelight Dinner Theatre. Here he delivers a turbo-charged performance you will love. Act One concludes with his very funny, self-adulating, “Bottom’s Gonna Be on Top!” 

       Brian Cronan has done numerous roles at BDT Stage including such memorable performances as Princeton in “Avenue Q,” Jinx in “Forever Plaid” and Franz in “Rock of Ages.”

     Here, Cronan is at his best singing the romantic duet, “I Like the Way,” with Julia Jackson’s Portia. 

      Clad in black, Scott Severtson’s portrayal of Shakespeare is one for the books. (Sorry!) This actor has done roles as varied as Gaston in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” Frankie in “Forever Plaid,” and Lord Farquaad In “Shrek, the Musical!” 

      In this show Severtson’s naughty, bawdy bard

               L-R: Bob Hoppe and Scott Severtson

is at his best singing “Will Power” and “Hard to be the Bard!” 

    Alicia K. Meyers portrays Nick’s wife, Bea, a woman who shows us she’s ahead of her time in the equal rights department, singing “Right Hand Man.” This actor has blessed us with numerous performances from Dolly Levi in “Hello, Dolly!” to Ursula in “The Little Mermaid.”

        Julia Jackson is Portia, the seemingly obedient child of a Puritan father. However, once her love for Nigel is ignited she turns into a romantic spitfire! It’s wonderful seeing Ms. Jackson back onstage once again. Two of her critically acclaimed roles are: Amalia in “She Loves Me” and Dainty June in “Gypsy!”

   In the role of the Minstrel in this show, Alejandro Roldan leads us into both Acts with his outstanding singing of, “Welcome to the Renaissance.” It’s an earworm that, like “It’s a Musical,” will be with you for days!!!

     You may remember Alejandro Roldan from his portrayal of Ritchie Valens in “Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story,” and Claude in Miners Alley Playhouse’s production of “HAIR.”

     The ensemble is full of superb talents such as Tracy Warren, Leo Battle, Kong Vang and Stephen Charles Turner, who is a hoot as Shylock.

    Ethan Knowles is hilarious in his over-the-top portrayal of Thomas Nostradamus, who, has the psychic gift of foretelling the future.   Outlining the next big thing in theatre for Nick, Knowles’ omniscient soothsayer invites us all into the show-stopping, “It’s a Musical.” Here, he ‘sees’ and ‘hears’ a whole new world of song springing out of thin air in a play. 

      Besides being an unforgettable number all on its own, “It’s a Musical” alludes to so many shows in the American musical theater canon, you’ll lose track.  Dance also figures into this vision and Alicia King Meyers creates a stage-full of sumptuous choreography that’s danced to perfection by the ensemble.

       Neal Dunfee is at the top of his game with the live fifteen-piece offstage orchestra. 

     Wayne Kennedy’s sound design is to die for.

     The costumes, designed by Linda Morken, are the eye-popping delights Colorado audiences have come to expect of her. In this show she’s also created astounding haberdashery you will simply have to see to believe.

     Enhanced by the outstanding lighting design of Brett Maughan, scenic designer Jeffrey B. Rusnak delivers one of the best sets in memory.

      Rusnak’s projections succeed in creating the illusion of an Elizabethan town extending well beyond his set.

     Seth Caikowski directs.

For tickets call 303-449-6000

Or go online to boxoffice@bdtstage.com