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#401

Something Rotten Previews

Posted: 4/21/15 at 1:50pm

The best parts of the show were the honesty of Cariani and Reinders's plotline and the tap battle between Borle and d'Arcy James. Forbidden Broadway, Mormon, Urinetown, and even Shrek have done musical parody better. I didn't find it very clever here, just lots of cheap shots like the Cats joke, Annie picture, Pippin vamp, and the Chess groaner (no one is going to get that one or think it's funny).

Blickenstaff is sorely underused. Could they not have given her more than one song and a reprise?

The audience ate it up. I'm baffled as to why, but maybe I'm the one missing something.

#402

Something Rotten Previews

Posted: 4/21/15 at 2:45pm

"The best parts of the show were the honesty of Cariani and Reinders's plotline and the tap battle between Borle and d'Arcy James. Forbidden Broadway, Mormon, Urinetown, and even Shrek have done musical parody better. I didn't find it very clever here, just lots of cheap shots like the Cats joke, Annie picture, Pippin vamp, and the Chess groaner (no one is going to get that one or think it's funny).
Blickenstaff is sorely underused. Could they not have given her more than one song and a reprise?
The audience ate it up. I'm baffled as to why, but maybe I'm the one missing something."

I acknowledge that Nixon's Checkers Speech was funnier than the Chess joke.

But, of course, it's hard to be a bard.

#403

Something Rotten Previews

Posted: 4/22/15 at 3:08am

"But I have to ask… if the jokes and references weren't so obvious… would the show appeal to the masses of non theatergoing audiences? Probably not so much. And the creatives know that. They have done a fine job to make sure that every audience member who comes through those doors has a laugh at some point in the show, in my opinion. "

Who are these non-theatergoing hordes that are attending Broadway shows? Even in the hinterlands of Iowa, there are these things called touring productions that should enable people to understand the majority of references made. And there is also this thing called "regional theater".

Most of the people I know who are visiting from out of state are some of the biggest theater nerds I know, but then again, I'm a theater person, so...birds of a feather.

I guess there are some people who visit NYC who think 'hey, why not do something that I NEVER DO and see a show, because that's what you do in New York' but a non-theater geek isn't going to go to a show called "Something Rotten" unless it's on sale at TKTS. And even that would be a long-shot, with so many brand name shows to choose from that they have heard of, with actors that they've heard of. I love Christian Borle and Brian d'arcy James and the rest of the cast, but you've got to be a hard-core theater person to know them. I wouldn't worry about whether this appeals to that kind of theater-goer. It won't, no matter how clever the marketing campaign is.

I won't recommend it to someone who never goes to the theater. I'll recommend it to people who can appreciate a backstage musical because they've been in one or subscribe to their local theater.

What concerns me is whether the theater nerds will like it. I think it's a good time with a great cast and good production values, but it's not really well-crafted as a story. I'm afraid that when the original cast moves on, it will, too. I'm happy to go see it because of who is in it now (pretty much pure delight across the board), but I doubt I'll want to see their replacements. Much has been made of how each actor is perfect for his/her role. That could be a problem in the long run. Who will replace Christian Borle or Brian d'arcy James? How long are producers going to lock up their contracts?

#404

Something Rotten Previews

Posted: 4/22/15 at 3:33am

Except no show can survive on only on "theater nerds".

If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

#405

Something Rotten Previews

Posted: 4/22/15 at 1:54pm

http://www.broadway.com/videos/156071/video-theres-a-will-and-a-way-to-see-clips-of-something-rotten/#play

"Anything you do, let it it come from you--then it will be new." Sunday in the Park with George

#406

Something Rotten Previews

Posted: 5/17/15 at 1:47pm

So when this show was first announced, I thought "Oh, this sounds like it could be really clever and good!" and I believe I remember a lot of people on here saying "Oh, this sounds dumb." Then the first preview came, and love and adoration seemed to be poured onto it, and I thought "Yes! I was right! I can't wait to see this!"

So I finally got to see it this week, figuring I should see it before it becomes a hot ticket after the Tonys, and boy was I disappointed.

Put me in the camp of people who just didn't find it very clever or amusing. I chuckled at some things, but most of the audience was roaring with laughter and I felt like they were in on some joke that I was not.

The music is mostly forgettable. The only two songs I remember are Welcome to the Renaissance (a fun opening number, but I tried to listen to the cast recording preview since and was kind of bored with it out of context) and God I Hate Shakespeare (my favorite part of the show...sadly it is the second song in the show.

I had heard about Brad Oscar's big act one showstopper and was disappointed when, like the big show-within-a-show scene at the end, it is largely just as many theatre references as they could shoe-horn together and not actually a great new theatre song.

It kept bringing to mind The Book of Mormon, which is what I think it wants to be, as an original new musical, but for my money BOM's is on an entirely different level, and I think it all comes down to the writing for me. The South Park guys are terrific writers. At first glance, their stuff is base, crass, and offensive. They throw in musical theatre references to play to their audience. But they write a story that has heart and meaning, and as simple as the humor may be at times, it's very intelligently written. And that is what was missing here. The writers just weren't on that level. They tried to put in all those same ingredients (Let's say the word penis here, a musical reference there, and a ridiculous show-within-the-show at the end, which tells a well known story that has been misinterpreted by us..voila!) but it just fell flat for me. I wanted it to be really sharp and clever, but in the end it just seemed silly and playing for cheap laughs.

I wanted to like it. I really did.

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