Review: SOMETHING ROTTEN! at Theatre Memphis

Over the past decade, the theatrical landscape in Memphis has changed dramatically. While it remains a remarkably vibrant artistic community for its size, the highest-quality talent and productions seem to have abandoned Midtown entirely, setting up shop exclusively in East Memphis. Perhaps it was COVID or the rising costs of maintaining a professional internship program or simply the retirement of Playhouse on the Square’s founder and legend, Jackie Nichols, that led to the dearth. Or was it Theatre Memphis’ good fortune to hire Debbie Litch as their Executive Producer who has managed to maintain TM’s stratospheric artistic quality year after record-breaking year?

Realizing that “art” is supremely subjective has meant comparing any two productions in this town has always been relegated to that “apples and “oranges” cliché. Until now. Bring on the tomatoes!

Theatre Memphis opens its 105th season with SOMETHING ROTTEN! precisely three years after Memphis’ professional theatre in Midtown produced the same show with the same director, but this time around the results are not Much Ado About Nothing, but rather A Midsummer Night’s Dream! Success begets success and TM now has the financial and artistic monopoly in this town to produce another hit that is about as lavish as they come.

SOMETHING ROTTEN! teases the creation of the American Musical being borne out of a 16th century writing duo’s (The Bottoms brothers) attempt to compete with the megastar of the time, William Shakespeare. Exasperated by never achieving the accolades of their counterpart, one of the brothers solicits a soothsayer who predicts that the future success of the theatre will be something called a musical which leads to a desperate attempt to write something to dethrone the king. The show is a gem for fans of Shakespeare, musicals or both with comedic “Easter Eggs” scattered throughout. Unlike the production across town, this one is technically far superior in all aspects, which can’t help but elevate the talent on stage. It’s a spectacle.

I don’t know what scenic designer Jack Netzel-Yates makes annually, but let’s be on record that it should be doubled each year (Small prayers that TM is helping cover his salary by not dismantling each of his brilliant creations after each show, but selling them to any theatre in America who would gladly purchase them for a hefty fee). Here, he has another immaculate design transporting us back to the 1590’s with spinning abodes with thatched roofing, incredibly detailed cobbled flooring, individually lit lanterns serving as footlights and an enormous painted drop acting as the grand drape. All of it matches (if not surpasses) anything to be seen on a Broadway stage.

Keeping up with him every step of the way is Costume Designer Amie Eoff who has created perfectly fitting Elizabethan costumes for 30 actors! Not only that, but she also provides outrageously silly outfits for many of them such as, let’s call it “Puritan Glam” and “Cracked Egg Chic.” Nicole Northington provides beautifully supportive lighting, and Emily Luce ensures the actors sound great with her sound design. Regular theatregoers simply have no idea just how much money, time and energy go into creating these designs, but it’s simply astounding.

Despite being enormously entertaining, SOMETHING ROTTEN! has its limitations. At a running time of almost three hours, the show could stand to be “tighter” and find ways to quicken the pace. A somewhat perfunctory storyline about how women are just as capable as men doesn’t have a strong enough throughline to make a lasting impact. And the construct of creating a musical called “Omelette” (a slight “miss” from predicting HAMLET by the soothsayer) creates a one-joke storyline that struggles to maintain momentum.

That said, the ensemble dances and sings their bottoms off with energy for days. Jonathan Christian returns as Nostradamus and gets to ham it up in easily the best number of the night, “A Musical,” which explains his vision of what this thing called a “musical” entails--singing and dancing for the sheer entertainment of it all.

Mark Pergolizzi nails the role of Shylock, a Jewish investor looking for a play to invest in, with just the right amount of Yiddish-isms. He is a fun character to watch!

Jimbo Lattimore is almost unrecognizable (and quite entertaining) as Brother Jeremiah, the Puritan spiritual leader who sees blasphemy everywhere he turns while seemingly struggling with a secret of his own.

Emily F. Chateau delivers (she always does) as Bea, the wife of the playwright, Nick Bottom. She can sing and act with the uncanny ability to always keep her choices fresh and interesting. Her rendition of “Right Hand Man” is charming and quaint as she extols her ability to do anything a man can do. She’s an exquisite talent.

The William Shakespeare in this iteration is supposed to be a “rock star” (the guys want to be him, and the girls want to be with him). He’s given songs to stalk the stage, gyrate his hips, and be as self-absorbed as possible. He’s a man who produces hit after hit and begins to feel the pressure of success. He takes the stage to sing/recite his greatest iambic pentameter hits (as the girls scream, ‘Do Sonnet 18!’ and ‘Do “A Kingdom for a horse!”’) in a number called “Will Power.” But, as played by Bentley Black, he’s giving more Austin Power(s) than “Will Power.” Black’s got the ego and smarminess down, but not the machismo. The Austin Powers character is funny because he thinks he's a lot sexier than he really is, whereas this Shakespeare is supposed to be truly sexy. It’s hard to believe women would be throwing themselves at this Bard who's more pouty than rowdy.

As one half of the beleagured writing brothers, Nick Bottom, Jordan Nichols plays it honest. He’s the more sobering of the two and is desperate to find success to compete with his arch enemy, Shakespeare. This part is harder to play than one might imagine because he’s the “straight man” in a world surrounded by outlandish characters. Nichols has the voice and can dance masterfully, but plays it guarded and gets overshadowed by the zaniness around him. Nichols choices are safe and mechanical in a comical world built for taking risks.

Nick’s brother, Nigel, played by Marvin Holt, delivers impressively. He’s the quirky poet whose hopeless romantic musings become fodder for Shakespeare to steal. Holt’s Nigel is awkward but endearing and finds ways to keep the character interesting and lovable. When his eye catches the Puritanical leader’s daughter, Portia (played by Jasmine Gillenwaters), she becomes his muse, and their blossoming love affair is a thing to behold. Their duet, “I Love The Way,” is silly, yet enchanting. After her recent portrayal of Belle in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at TM, Gillenwaters has proven herself to be Memphis’ premier ingenue. Together, they give the show its heart.

The audience on opening night laughed and clapped enthusiastically. More than half got the Shakespearean references, while the other half got the musical theatre references-and some got both! This is Director/Choreographer Whitney Branan’s best Memphis production to date. The choreography is interesting, intricate, and dynamic. She has assembled a large cast and crew who are all in on the joke and put everything they’ve got into delivering an amazing night of theatre. Although the soothsayer mistook the name “Hamlet” for “Omelette,” he got one thing right-people do indeed love musicals (especially this one)!