Review: New Line Theatre's SOMETHING ROTTEN at The Marcelle Theatre

It is Renaissance England and brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are playwrights who can't seem to get out from under the shadow of another playwright, William Shakespeare. Nick's frustration mounts as Shakespeare enjoys rockstar like status and pens hit after hit. That's when Nick hires a soothsayer to learn what Shakespeare's next great work will be with plans to steal the idea and beat him to the punch.

SOMETHING ROTTEN is the first show in New Line Theatre's 31st Season at the Marcelle Theatre in the Grand Center Arts District. SOMETHING ROTTEN was the winner of the Featured Actor Tony Award (Christian Borle) and was nominated for another nine during its run on Broadway. The book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell with music and lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick is chock full of hilarious musical theatre references that just keep coming. After seeing SOMETHING ROTTEN four times, on Broadway twice and the national tour twice, I still uncover laughs that I've missed prior.

This production of SOMETHING ROTTEN is terrific. New Line Theatre's production delivers a robust number of laughs from a script filled with nonsense musical theatre references. Director Scott Miller has taken a big, overblown musical and effectively shrunk the performance to a smaller stage with a simple set. Music Director Mallory Golden, Choreographer Alyssa Wolf, and Sound Designer Ryan Day collaborate to deliver musical numbers that are well mixed and entertaining. Music Direction and Sound Design for this production is critical because many of the funniest moments are written into the score by Kirkpatrick and O'Farrell.

The entire ensemble delivers exceptional vocals and animated performances. Everyone in this company is first rate. This production stars Chris Kernan (Nick Bottom), Marshall Jennings (Nigel Bottom), Clayton Humburg (Shakespeare), and Jeffrey Izquierdo-Malon (Nostradamus). Kernan and Jennings partner perfectly as the Bottom brothers. Humburg's Shakespeare is playful and cheeky with just the right amount of smarmy arrogance. However, this show belongs to Izquierdo-Malon. His Nostradamus is eccentrically goofy and witty. He delivers laugh after laugh with his soothsaying craziness.

You begin smiling and laughing from the very first lines of "Welcome to the Renaissance" and the laughs don't subside. New Line's production of SOMETHING ROTTEN is an exceptional reimagination of this asset. It illustrates how a smartly written comedy, in the hands of the right director and technical theater professionals, can effectively make the transition to any size stage.