Something Rotten Previews- Page 14

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 4/11/15 at 5:40pm

Pretty much agree,  aj. Will be interested to see your thoughts on Fun Home. Saw it last night and liked it. Also saw Rotten today and really liked it too. Obviously they're so different it's hard to compare them. And the lead performances in both were great!

While the allusions to past musicals were running fast and furious throughout Rotten, I found it fun. And the obvious references to Shakespeare were not only necessary (obviously), but equally entertaining.                

The similarities to The Producers were there, and you could hear similar sounds to songs from other musicals.

But I thought the story was still put together well, and I really found the laughs and smiles coming myself. Not because I was taking some pride in my recognition of them (there were probably many I missed). They were just interestingly done.                                          

As for Fun Home, that was a great show too. And being able to identify with some of the themes made it meaningful to me.                  

Glad I was able to catch both!

Updated On: 4/12/15 at 05:40 PM

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 4/11/15 at 8:50pm

I had such a fun time at Something Rotten. I was hesitant about it because of the comparisons being made to Spamalot, a show I did not care for. But I was curious because of the concept of trying to make musicals possible during Shakespeare's time.  

I lost track of how many times the jokes made me laugh out loud. I suppose a lot of the jokes were theater in-jokes, but that doesn't make them any less funny. There were certainly some lines that were mumbled, but I had a much easier time hearing the singing and speaking at the St. James than I did at the Beaumont earlier in the day.

*mild spoiler?*

The number where the Soothsayer explains the concept of a musical to the Bottom is by far the best part of the show. I wished I had a pen and paper with me so I could remember more of the jokes during that number.  Brad Oscar was absolutely ridiculous in the best way. 

**

 

The Shakespeare references were also hilarious and the idea of having Shakespeare being this obnoxious Justin Bieber-esque pop star of his era was comic gold. 

One of the best parts of this show is that the cast looks like they are having the time of their lives up there and are totally buying into the meta tone of the show. I do not think you need to have a very advanced knowledge of Shakespeare or of musicals to get the jokes. It may help if you are familiar with some of Shakespeare's contemporaries though.  

This was the one new show I saw this weekend (besides King and I and Hand to God) that I definitely want to see again.  

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 8:52pm

Someone has predicted that this will get Best Musical and Best Score.

 

Broadway's hit 'Something Rotten' set to win Tony Award for Best Musical Score

[Kad]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 8:56pm

"Someone" is a generous word here.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 9:00pm

That reads half like a poorly written ad and half like a poorly written review. Either way, regardless of the reviews this show gets, I will really be shocked if this wins Best Score over Fun Home or The Visit. Best Musical I could understand, but the score on its own doesn't merit any particular notice- it's mediocre and bland at best.

[BrerBear]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 10:11pm

That article includes every possible terrible angle of journalism.

Yuck. Embarassing.

[A1st]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 10:37pm

Haven't seen Fun Home, so not score but I would definitely say that this will win for Book.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 11:00pm

How can you say that when you have also said you haven't seen Fun Home...?

[Up In One]

Posted: 4/12/15 at 11:27pm

Saw Something Rotten the Saturday matinee and Fun Home Saturday night. Talk about two different worlds. The afternoon was a throw back to off Broadway musicals like Forbidden Broadway and When Pigs Fly - if they were written for Branson Missouri. In comparison my evening tickets were for something more ground breaking, Fun Home renewed my faith in musicals for the future.

Expectations were not high going into Something Rotten I expected a fluffy enjoyable and highly professional piece. The first thirty minutes were wonderful - amazing even - I was ready to buy tickets for a return trip - but the show peaked with the hysterical and brilliantly staged Soothsayer production number "A Musical."That number became the one trick pink elephant of the evening. The show could not recover or top the build up to that moment. The second act Omelette number was essentially a re thread of the successful elements of its first act brethren. The lack of creativity around everything else became stultifying. The mind wandered. The performances blanded together and the plot didn't thicken it just sloshed its way to an anticlimactic ending.

Such a sin because those first thirty minutes were truly amazing.

Yes the direction was as taught as a cruise ship revue but one questions a director who couldn't suggest its writers go back to the drawing board on its sub plots. Minimally the end of the show begs for a punch line or one last groan. For my money Brad Oscar has the supporting actor in a musical Tony sewn up and should be given the last line to bring down the final curtain on this show. It's so evident he saves the piece and has the best material why not let him bring it home? The audience - who by the way was loving it - was so primed for one last explosion of energy even if it meant beating that dead horse of an idea one more time. Let them eat cake!

I wish the show well, I hope it finds its audience - current preview grosses suggests a lot of papering and discounting. If there is a theater god award season will pass this show over - with the exception of Brad Oscar. While there's a lot of yeoman activity up on the St James stage - there are more laurel worthy efforts elsewhere. Damn the touring producers voting block.

If only Howard Crabtree were still with us he could have helped make this show soar. Right now it's more than enough for the majority of what makes up the Broadway audience. It's the nicer Book of Mormon you can send the kids and Auntie to without giving it a second thought.

 

 

 

Updated On: 4/12/15 at 11:27 PM

[A1st]

Posted: 4/13/15 at 12:55am

"How can you say that when you have also said you haven't seen Fun Home...?"

 You are 100% I can't. I just felt that the book for something rotten was just so incredibly clever (in the way they incorporated a lot of jokes and material) that tony voters will pick up on that 

[groucho797]

Posted: 4/13/15 at 10:11am

Saw yesterday's matinee (saw Fun Home OB previously). Best 37 bucks I ever spent on a show. Comparisons to Spamalot and Mormon are inevitable, but comparing to Fun Home makes minimal sense; both have music, and that's about it. I agree that some of the hysterical laughter could've come from plants - bit overdone. Then again, we don't get to choose our audiences, do we? Very funny, very witty show, and I'm looking forward to the cast recording so I can hear all the jokes (ditto the sound problems thing - but maybe the jokes flew too fast). Christian Borle channels David Spade more than anything else. Bea is a superfluous character who gets her "I am woman, hear me roar" moment, then vanishes (only to save the show at the end). These gripes are minor - we needed a fresh, new comedy and this show delivers. I already want to see it again to get what I missed.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/13/15 at 10:24am

I saw the show the other day, and while I laughed and enjoyed myself, I didn't think it lived up to the hype at all. I haven't been reading many of the opinions on the board, but I have lots of friends who have seen it and they all said it was extraordinary. I didn't find it to be extraordinary. I thought the musical references were pretty groan-inducing, a la It's Only a Play. I barely laughed at all during the big "A Musical" number. I agree that Bea was superfluous and not funny. I like to idea of trying to include a strong female character, and have her voice her feminist ideals, but it just didn't work. I laughed hardest at Nigel and Shakespeare. I guess I was just expecting a more smart style of humor, rather than all those cheap jokes.

Still, despite my disappointment, I had fun overall. The music was catchy and fun, there were lots of parts I laughed at, some great performances, and it was a nice, fluffy afternoon at the theatre. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/13/15 at 10:24am

I saw the show the other day, and while I laughed and enjoyed myself, I didn't think it lived up to the hype at all. I haven't been reading many of the opinions on the board, but I have lots of friends who have seen it and they all said it was extraordinary. I didn't find it to be extraordinary. I thought the musical references were pretty groan-inducing, a la It's Only a Play. I barely laughed at all during the big "A Musical" number. I agree that Bea was superfluous and not funny. I like to idea of trying to include a strong female character, and have her voice her feminist ideals, but it just didn't work. I laughed hardest at Nigel and Shakespeare. I guess I was just expecting a more smart style of humor, rather than all those cheap jokes.

Still, despite my disappointment, I had fun overall. The music was catchy and fun, there were lots of parts I laughed at, some great performances, and it was a nice, fluffy afternoon at the theatre. 

[A1st]

Posted: 4/13/15 at 5:28pm

/www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Flash-First-Look-at-Brian-dArcy-James-Christian-Borle-and-More-in-Broadways-SOMETHING-ROTTEN-20150413

The pictures look great! I love the first one!

[Annetteiago]

Posted: 4/14/15 at 5:22am

A: I want to see a good musical
B okay something rotten
A : No I want to see something good
B Fun Home and Something Rotten
A: Stop joking around
B No Something Rotten is good
A: How can something rotten be any good
B because that's the musicals name
A: oh okay

 

okay its really stupid but wanted to share

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/14/15 at 7:56am

Next time, listen to that voice telling you it's stupid.

[South Florida]

Posted: 4/16/15 at 9:17am

Trying to decide on a second show to see next month, already seeing FH.  I know next to nothing about Shakespeare, will this show be lost on me?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/16/15 at 9:30am

Can anyone tell me how the seats are from the balcony?  I'm likely seeing this the same day as Hamilton, and need to keep cost down!   Tix are available in the front balcony....(well, tix seem available all over) and you can't beat the price.

 

TIA

Updated On: 4/16/15 at 09:30 AM

[aj88]

Posted: 4/16/15 at 9:30am

"Trying to decide on a second show to see next month, already seeing FH.  I know next to nothing about Shakespeare, will this show be lost on me?"

I would say that while having some knowledge of basic Shakespeare might be helpful, I think having more of a knowledge of musical theatre would still be more than enough to enjoy the evening.

 

 

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 4/16/15 at 9:52am

Last night I saw Something Rotten again. The first time I had gone was the final dress rehearsal. I rushed and got to the box office around noon and managed to get D 17 and 19 in the orchestra. We maybe missed 5% of the entire show so for "partial view" I was very pleased with the view! The show was hilarious and my friend loved it too. I'm going back again after opening and can't wait to see if they change anything else. Heidi Blickenstaff said they are freezing the show today (4/16). Changes I noticed: *MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

1. As others have said, the song with Nigel, Nick, Portia and Bea has been cut. Since that has been cut, Heidi Blickenstaf has been given a reprise of Right Hand Man. From what I remember, when I saw the final dress, Bea found the money box empty and got into a huge fight with Nick. This time around, Bea tells Nigel she knows the money has been taken but that's what makes Nick such a good man - the reason he does these crazy things is because he he looking out for the people he loves.

2. Minor change in "A Musical" that I noticed - at the final dress, the song featured an annie reference directly followed by an into the woods reference. The ITW reference was removed. I specifically remember this because I saw Lilla Crawford was at the final dress and I remember thinking wow, she must have loved that...her two shows back to back.

 

[HSky]

Posted: 4/16/15 at 12:35pm

I also saw it again last night after seeing the first preview. The rewrites have really helped the second act. Clarifying what drives Nick's intentions has made quite the difference. Although "Lovely Love" included a bit about him doing everything because he is a good man, the earlier draft had Nick be more abrasive and dismissive, making the resolution not entirely ring true. Now, it's clearer that he's doing everything for his family and he believes what he's been told really is their meal ticket so (pun intended) that's why he puts all his eggs in one basket.

 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/16/15 at 12:37pm

So Bea no longer brings up the pilfered money from the box directly after "Omelette" (which was an extremely contrived moment)? 

[loliveve]

Posted: 4/16/15 at 12:41pm

All I can say is that am bummed that the quartet was cut.

HSky- how was the finale changed?  (could you PM me if you are afraid of spoilers?)

[HSky]

Posted: 4/16/15 at 12:50pm

[spoiler]

Bea tells Nigel during the "Right Hand Man" reprise that she knows what Nick did with the money box, but it's just one in a line of similar things he's done, including working a second job to help buy the coat Nigel wears. She mentions it again in the courtroom scene but it's more of a mention to clue Nick in that she knows, never an outright confrontation. It fits Bea better, too - we know from early on she's the practical, wiser one. The best way I can describe most of the rewrites is that they remove the antagonism which really stands out more now in retrospect. Nick and Nigel still fight but it doesn't feel like Nick is bullying his younger brother.

 

(I'll send a PM later.)

Updated On: 4/16/15 at 12:50 PM

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 4/16/15 at 12:57pm

I have to politely disagree, as that quartet was the most boring few moments of the show… while I absolutely loved 98% of the rest of it. A 'Right Hand Man' reprise sounds like a fun replacement, as I loved that song. 

I was also at the first preview, and I'm very excited to go back next week after opening.