SOMETHING ROTTEN! - first listen to the full cast album

[loliveve]

Posted: 5/29/15 at 11:47am

The cast album is now streaming on The Wall Street Journal: 

Listen to the cast recording here

[ABB2357]

Posted: 5/29/15 at 1:20pm

Am I the only one who's unimpressed? I haven't seen the show and I know others love it, but to me it seems completely charmless. Loud, pushy performances, flat jokes, easy Theatre 101 references to other musicals you can spot a mile away but thinks it's OH SO CLEVER. 

I promise I'm not trying to be negative, but I seriously don't get it. Am I missing something? The whole thing reminds me of this Onion article:

Loud, Desperate Need for Approval

Updated On: 5/29/15 at 01:20 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/29/15 at 1:31pm

^ Much of the reason I seldom listen to cast recordings before I see a show.   

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/29/15 at 4:56pm

You're not the only one. I'm growing a little tired of the musical satire genre and I'm not hearing anything that The Producers, Spamalot and Book of Mormon didn't do better.

[ABB2357]

Posted: 5/29/15 at 5:12pm

Agree. It sounds like it really wants to be SPAMALOT (if not MORMON or PRODUCERS). But those shows were all legitimately clever and had a lot of genuine affection and heart that made them more than just a collection of hoary jokes. Maybe I'll feel differently when I see SOMETHING ROTTEN, but it seems rather lazy and superficial on this first listen.

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 5/29/15 at 5:56pm

THis is very much a "don't listen to it before seeing it" piece in my opinion. 

Updated On: 5/29/15 at 05:56 PM

[VotePeron]

Posted: 5/29/15 at 5:58pm

"We See The Light" is my favorite number on the album for me.

[sephyr2]

Posted: 5/29/15 at 6:09pm

Such a fun show! I had fun watching it and now listening to it takes me back. The Musical number is my favorite. I also loved Right Hand Man and a lot of the other songs. Can't wait to add it to my collection :)

[songofendlesswondder]

Posted: 5/29/15 at 6:20pm

It honestly fell a wee bit flat to me. But I'm not going to fully judge it until I actually see it...but Right Hand Man is literally the best thing ever.

[RaiseYouUp]

Posted: 5/29/15 at 7:08pm

I saw the show without having listened to much of the music and I think that helped. I really enjoyed the show and the music when I saw it!

[carlodowd]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 6:33am

Never saw the show but listened to cast album for the first time last night. Have to say i was very much thinking "this is the new Book of Mormon?" but after a second listen I have to say the songs started to grow on me. Especially Right Hand Man, God I Hate Shakespeare and A Musical (Loved all the musical reference). Sometimes I think the are trying to hard but overall I would say its a good and funny comedy score! Would love to see how it translate on stage, I would say it would be hilarious.

 

Something Rotten! is good but I still want Fun Home to win best score!!!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 9:55am

"Am I the only one who's unimpressed? I haven't seen the show and I know others love it, but to me it seems completely charmless. Loud, pushy performances, flat jokes, easy Theatre 101 references to other musicals you can spot a mile away but thinks it's OH SO CLEVER. "

 No. This is pretty much what I felt when I saw the show.

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 10:26am

I actually LOVE it (though, I also love the show - my favorite new musical this season) and can't wait to buy it!

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 11:31am

The only reason why one would call this a "don't listen before you see it" show is because listening to the music makes you realize it's... bad... and your opinion isn't clouded by a theater full of easy lays laughing and clapping.  It's a lazy, desperate, haphazard show with a lazy, desperate, haphazard score (and frankly, terrible lyrics). Feh.

[Fantod]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 2:36pm

Reminds me of The Producers in that the numbers try to duplicate classic Broadway, but fail to emulate the charm and natural likability of those scores.

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 3:29pm

"The only reason why one would call this a "don't listen before you see it" show is because listening to the music makes you realize it's... bad... and your opinion isn't clouded by a theater full of easy lays laughing and clapping.  It's a lazy, desperate, haphazard show with a lazy, desperate, haphazard score (and frankly, terrible lyrics). Feh."

No - I say that because I think that many of the jokes and funny bits are complimented by the staging, movement and design elements; and the score is more enjoyable to hear for the first time with those complimentary elements that the show provides visually. The score in its entirety isn't my all-time favorite, and I am still favorable to Fun Home's score this season... but there are some moments that I truly love on this score. I would hardly call it haphazard. 

"Reminds me of The Producers in that the numbers try to duplicate classic Broadway, but fail to emulate the charm and natural likability of those scores."

They aren't trying to duplicate "classic Broadway" - they are trying to invent "classic Broadway" (NOT literally, but in terms of the premise of the show). That's the entire point of the show, taking place in the 1590s and all. 

This part of the article on the WSJ struck me:

“To hold up a rat trap and a washboard and sing, ‘We have the latest gadgets and appliances,’ lets the audience know right away that we aren’t going to take ourselves too seriously and we’re going to have a lot of fun with a view of what is ‘new’ from a 400-year-old perspective,” Wayne Kirkpatrick says. “Also, when we break into the rock section with a driving rhythm section and distorted electric guitars, we are also foreshadowing the type of music that is to come—and letting the audience know there is going to be a collision of these two styles; traditional Broadway and contemporary rock."

Say what you will, and to each his own… but I for one love the score.

Updated On: 5/30/15 at 03:29 PM

[songofendlesswondder]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 5:51pm

It's not like a life-changing score or anything...like it didn't have an impact on me like other scores (I mean it's no Jason Robert Brown or Stephen Sondheim that's for sure). But I appreciate it for what it is you know? It's definitely one of those that don't require a lot of thought, but it's still enjoyable. 

I do wish there were more sweet moments in it though. One thing I love about most musicals is that in a lot of comedies, there's some relief in those sweet moments. I feel like it could have afforded a few more of those...rather than constant silliness. But I think it did what it was supposed to do. I just prefer musicals with a wee bit more substance. Thoughts?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 5:56pm

I like fluff, but Something Rotten isn't very well-constructed fluff. A show can be silly but have some redeeming value; there isn't much in SR.

[Fantod]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 6:06pm

If you want fluff, nobody did it better than the masters of pre-World War II Broadway. Try some Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Gershwin, Youmans, etc.

[songofendlesswondder]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 6:09pm

Agreed completely. But if you want modern fluff this is a good candidate I would say.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 6:09pm

"I like fluff, but Something Rotten isn't very well-constructed fluff. A show can be silly but have some redeeming value; there isn't much in SR."

Something Rotten is the equivalent of a full container of marshmallow fluff. 

[songofendlesswondder]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 6:12pm

I feel like it's doing well because of that cast. I mean you got musical theatre LEGENDS all in the same show. D'Arcy James, Borle, Blickenstaff, Oscar. I mean those people are amazing performers. Without them I think the show would be more prone to flopping.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 6:13pm

I love all those performers, but they are not yet legends.

[Fantod]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 6:16pm

Nor should they ever be.

 

And if you want modern fluff, Hairspray, Spamalot, Curtains, and even something like The Drowsy Chaperone are all better.

Updated On: 5/30/15 at 06:16 PM

[songofendlesswondder]

Posted: 5/30/15 at 6:16pm

Well sorta in the musical theatre world they are. Not on like a Patti Lupone capacity but legends all the same.