Review: Shakespeare Meets Musical Theater in SOMETHING ROTTEN! at The Marcus Center

"Nothing's as amazing as a musical, with song and dance and sweet romance, and happy endings happening by happenstance." For musical theater lovers, Something Rotten is, at its heart, an ode to musical theater - and the show wears its heart on its sleeve. Speaking of hearts on sleeves: Shakespeare. The heart of Something Rotten also beats madly for Shakespeare.

Set in 1595, this is the story of Nick and Nigel Bottom, two brothers who are desperate to write the next hit play. In an attempt to top everyone's favorite rockstar Bard, Shakespeare, Nick asks a local soothsayer what will be the next big thing in theater. The fortune teller peers into the future and sees bright lights, catchy tunes, feathered chorus girls, dance breaks, kick lines, and simultaneous singing and acting. That's right - musicals are the next big thing.

From there, the references to musical theater abound. Everything from Sound of Music to Cats to Fiddler to Les Mis gets a momentary riff. The tone overall is cute and kitschy; the kind of light, frothy, un-challenging spectacle one would expect from a show with such musical numbers as "God, I Hate Shakespeare" and "Hard to Be the Bard." Where the challenge lies, for fans of both musical and Shakespearean theater, is trying to catch as many of the references as you can.

While some theatergoers may crave a little more meat and genuine feeling from their musicals, it's important to remember that's not what Something Rotten is aiming for. It's meant to be a delightful, dazzling escape filled with corseted girls in golden tap shoes, The Bard on air guitar, and a big ol' wink to the audience before launching knowingly into any musical encore. If serious theater is your only joy, then you will find little of it here; playfulness and jokes made of delicious low-hanging fruit rule in Something Rotten.

Of the cast bringing this show to Milwaukee, Matthew Michael Janisse and Richard Spitaletta as brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom, respectively, do their parts ample justice. Spitaletta is especially endearing, and he's perfectly matched by his love interest, Portia, played by Jennifer Elizabeth Smith. She's adorably sweet with a hilarious innocence ever-laced with sexual undertones. Nigel and Portia's duet, "I Love the Way," ranks among my personal favorites. Nick's wife, Bea, is played by Emily Kristen Morris - another funny lady with a full and lovely voice to boot.

Truly all of the cast nailed the wonderful choreography and seemed to nail the singing - I just wish we could have heard some of it more clearly. This lack of clarity is not an uncommon sentiment, per my own experiences at the Marcus Center and those patrons grumbling around me at intermission. Often times, the audio simply isn't clear, the music overshadows the voices, and it's hard to make out what the actors are sing-saying.

It's a shame really, because the experience of seeing a show at the Marcus certainly colors the experience of the show overall. And it's not just this one time - Something Rotten is only the latest to suffer a little from the acoustics they've been dealt here in Milwaukee.

How to combat this? Short of suggesting a new theater venue (wouldn't it be loverly?!), I'd advise listening to any musical before seeing it at the Marcus Center. That's something I didn't do for Something Rotten, but rather wish I had.

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