By Joanne Engelhardt
There is unequivocally nothing rotten in Hillbarn Theatre’s enchanting rendition of Something Rotten, running through May 12 at the Foster City theater. The sold-out crowd on opening night showed the hard-working cast their love by standing up and awarding them a prolonged round of applause.
For this musical, it helps to have seen many other Broadway musicals, because references to hit songs from Annie, Beauty and the Beast, A Chorus Line, Phantom of the Opera, and more are sprinkled throughout the production.
Playwrights John O’Farrell, Karey, and Wayne Kirkpatrick obviously used their theatrical backgrounds in writing Rotten and bringing it to Broadway in 2015. The show was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, including “Best Musical,” and earned one.
For the Hillbarn production, director Randy O’Hara rounded up a talented cast of 21 performers who all act, sing, and dance—and here’s a plus: there are even a few tap numbers!
In his pre-show speech, artistic director Stephen Muterspaugh joked that it took three Hillbarn artistic directors to bring Rotten to Penninsula/South Bay audiences: himself, O’Hara, who was his predecessor, and Dan Demers, the company’s artistic director from 2011 to 2021. Demers has returned to play Brother Jeremiah in Rotten, with the audience applauding loudly when he made his first entrance.
As the lights dim and pixyish Jon Gary Harris enters, wearing a flashy costume and big pink hat as The Minstrel, singing and playing a tune. The magic begins. Quickly the entire cast walks onstage to sing the opening number “Welcome to the Renaissance.”
The crux of the story is that the two Bottom brothers, Nick (a sensational Brandon Savage) and Nigel (a sweetly charming Andrew Cope) are trying to come up with an idea for a play to counterprogram anything Will Shakespeare might be writing. They are desperate for an idea, a backer and some good actors.
Because the Bard has just produced Richard III, the Bottoms decide to write a play about Richard II. Then someone tells them that Shakespeare is now working on a Richard II. “What?” screams Nick: “Who goes backwards??” That results in the play’s second song: “God, I Hate Shakespeare” sung by Nick.
Nick is desperate to put on a money-making play—especially when his wife, Bea (Melissa Wolfklain) tells him he’s going to be a father. He enlists the help of the famous soothsayer, Nostradamus (an electrifying Caitlin Beanan). She agrees to help him come up with a great topic for a play–of course, extracting money from him for that little favor.
Beanan practically steals the show as she gestures/cogitates/imagines what Nick’s play will be about. Using her magic powers, she tells him that he should make a musical. Up until that time apparently, plays were either comedies or tragedies. No one had ever included music in a play, let alone have actors sing words rather than speak them.
She then uses her magical powers to conjure up what the musical should be about. “It’s something about an egg—and maybe ham—Danish ham” she says, before finally blurting out “Omelet!” Nick doesn’t think it’s a good play topic but he follows her lead because the first idea he had, a musical about the Black Death, was a total flop. Later, when Shakespeare announces he’s written a play about a melancholy Dane named Hamlet, Nostradamus snaps her fingers and says, “Oh! So close!” (“Omelet,” “Hamlet” – get it?)
There are so many terrific performances in Rotten that it’s difficult to single out all of them. Julio Chavez is a delightfully over-the-top Shakespeare who with the swagger and costumes of Elvis, immodestly sings “Will Power” and “It’s Hard to Be the Bard” with a roguish smile.
Demers plays the firebrand preacher Brother Jeremiah who refuses to let his daughter, Portia, get near heathens such as the two Bottom brothers. But Nigel and Portia fall in love nonetheless, brought together by the fact that he writes beautiful sonnets (poems) and she loves reading poetry.
Then there’s the Jew, Shylock, well played by Jason Nunan. At the time, laws didn’t allow people to employ Jews, so Nick refuses his money. Later, after having no money left of his own, he relents and accepts the Jew’s backing.
Hunter B. Jameson gets credit for creating the flexible, quick-change scenic design. Long-time Hillbarn costume designer Pamela Lampkin must have had a mighty crew to help her create the many costumes needed for the 29-member cast, with several actors playing three or four roles.
Somehow the audience knows that by the end of Rotten, all’s well that ends well” as the Bard himself famously wrote! Muterspaugh said he and the play’s production staff decided against a live orchestra for this show. “Given the amount of dancing in the show, this gave the creative team and cast access to the musical tracks during the entire rehearsal process and allowed them to work out exact timing.”
That was obviously the right choice because Hillbarn’s Something Rotten is something irresistible. The show has even garnered a “Go See” recommendation from the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle! Get tickets soon before they sell out.
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Aisle Seat Executive Reviewer Joanne Engelhardt is a Peninsula theatre writer and critic. She is a voting member of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC). Contact: joanneengelhardt@comcast.net
| Production | Something Rotten |
|---|---|
| Written by | John O’Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick |
| Music & Lyrics by | Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick |
| Directed by | Randy O’Hara |
| Producing Company | Hillbarn Theatre |
| Production Dates | Thru May 12th |
| Production Address | 1285 E Hillsdale Blvd, Foster City, CA 94404 |
| Website | www.hillbarntheatre.org |
| Telephone | (659) 349-6411 |
| Tickets | $32-$60 |
| Reviewer Score | Max in each category is 5/5 |
| Overall | 4.75/5 |
| Performance | 4.75/5 |
| Script | 4.75/5 |
| Stagecraft | 4.50/5 |
| Aisle Seat Review PICK? | YES! |