The reviews for Something Rotten! are in, and most find the new musical to be something wonderful, while some others feel it’s just a bit more rotten than it should be. The musical is set in the Elizabethan Renaissance, when Shakespeare (a devilish idol, winningly played by Christian Borle) is the hottest thing in London and the Bottom brothers (played by Brian D’Arcy James and John Cariani) are struggling playwrights hoping to debut the next big thing – the musical! – and win some fame for themselves. The humor is nerdy and low-brow at once (not wholly unlike much of Shakespeare’s comedy) and the music is extravagant in a tongue-in-cheek way, but there are plenty of smarts at play here too. There seems to be something for everyone, from Shakespeare-lovers, to big musicals-lovers, even to Book of Mormon and Mel Brooks-lovers. You won’t hear this much (ever) but head to Something Rotten! for a jolly good time!
NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW
TIME OUT NEW YORK REVIEW
Do you fondly remember that “Taming of the Shrew” episode from “Moonlighting,” back in 1986? Whenever blue, do you stream “Shakespeare in Love” for succor? Are you a fierce partisan for “Blackadder II?” Elizabethan fops and wenches forming a stagewide kick line cause a little flutter under the ruff? If you answer…
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER REVIEW
The Shakespearean references come thick and fast, along with the winking nods to a whole plethora of modern musicals, in “Something Rotten!” But the laughs in this rambunctious comedy by Broadway newcomers Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick, written with British humorist John O’Farrell and buoyed by a top-drawer cast, …
ASSOCIATED PRESS REVIEW
The first sign that things might go a little nutty at “Something Rotten!” is in the second song when William Shakespeare is called, well, a “little turd.” The Bard is mocked as “the poster child for why no one should ever procreate” and “a hack with a knack for stealing anything he can.” Those are some of the …
NBC NEW YORK REVIEW
Shakespeare is a charismatic and conniving copycat who wears skin-tight leather pants in the new musical comedy “Something Rotten!” An easygoing effort from the director of “The Book of Mormon,” the real brains—and heart—of “Rotten!” belong to the Bottom Brothers, a pair of aspiring writers who challenge the Bard …
Broadway Musical Blog 