Something Rotten! In Concert Review
- therevueuk
- Aug 9, 2024
- 3 min read
Something Rotten! first opened on Broadway in 2005 with Broadway legends Christian Borle and Brian d’Arcy James. The original production was nominated for a staggering ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and ran until January 2017 after over 700 performances. It’s safe to say a UK premiere of the show was well overdue and we finally got one. Don’t get too excited though as it’s not got a full West End transfer (just yet)... but we did get a 2 day ‘in concert’ production.
Something Rotten! In Concert played at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane (the current home of Frozen the Musical) for just 2 days accompanied by the 28-piece London Musical Theatre Orchestra. Despite being a staged concert, audiences couldn’t be disappointed with the brilliant costumes designed by Rebecca Brower and the show-stopping choreography by Tim Jackson and Claira Vaughan. It certainly didn’t feel like they cut corners in any way shape or form.
The musical is set in the late 90s (the 1590s that is) and follows the story of Nick Bottom, a struggling writer who is tired of competing with the great William Shakespeare. He finds himself having money troubles and then when he finds out that his wife Bea is pregnant he knows he must find a way to earn some cash. He desperately seeks out the soothsayer Nostradamus and asks him what the next big thing in theatre will be. He is utterly bemused when he is told it will be something called ‘A Musical’. Nick then begins to write the world’s first musical and mayhem follows.
The musical is written by American brothers Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick who teamed up with British writer John O’Farrell to create a musical that works both in the US and this side of the pond. The music is catchy, the lyrics are hilarious and it is full of not only Shakespeare quotes from start to finish but also an array of musical theatre references too. It is the ideal show for any kind of theatre lover.
The whole cast were absolutely phenomenal. Let’s start with the Bard himself, Richard Fleeshman as William Shakespeare. He owned the stage like his life depended on it, taking on the iconic character with all the arrogance and ego that you would expect - proudly announcing ‘Exit Shakespeare’ every time he left the stage. His performance of ‘Will Power’ was unmatched and I doubt anyone left that theatre not in love with him. Jason Manford takes to the stage as Nick Bottom with brilliant comic timing, which you would expect but also surprisingly impressive vocals too.
Standout performances also include Marisha Wallace as Bottom’s husband Bea whose rendition of ‘Right Hand Man’ was nothing short of perfection and Gary Wilmot as Nostradamus who seemed to be having the time of his life on that stage at all times. Cassius Hackforth is wonderfully sensitive as Nick’s poet brother Nigel, it’s impossible not to smile every time he’s on stage.
All in all Something Rotten! In Concert was everything I wanted it to be and more. I was already a huge fan of the soundtrack and seeing it on stage for the first time I was not disappointed. It’s utterly ridiculous but that’s what makes it brilliant. What other show can you see in the West End where you’ve got the Phantom of the Opera, Elder Price, and a gold sparkly egg all together on one stage? It’s over the top, it’s cheesy and it’s incredibly clever. All it needs now is an actual West End transfer... fingers crossed it gets one soon.
