If you only get a chance to see one play this year, make it Moonlight Amphitheatre’s hilarious spoof of Shakespeare and musical comedy, “Something Rotten.” Jamie Torcellini directs this lunacy with a sure hand.
Cast your mind back to 1595 (if they can, you can), especially easy when you hear Minstrel (E.Y. Washington) sing the jaunty opening tune “Welcome to the Renaissance.”
There’s an Elvis-like rock star in this theater world – you guessed it, Shakespeare (David Burnham) – who hasn’t left much space for other playwrights.
But there are other wannabes around, like Nick Bottom (Cameron Bond-Sczempka) and his younger brother Nigel (Bryan Banville), to whom Shakespeare barely gives the time of day, and no backer will touch the brothers.
This inspires Nick and Nigel to sing “God, I Hate Shakespeare.”
It’s funny, but it doesn’t pay the rent, for which Shylock (Dallas McLaughlin) is breathing down their necks. But he doesn’t really count because, you know, he’s Jewish and Jews aren’t allowed to do business in Renaissance England.
Nick and Nigel need an idea for a play. When Nick runs into Nostradamus (not the real one, his cousin), Nick asks the soothsayer to forecast “the next big thing in theater.”
Nostradamus (Randall Hickman) suggests “a musical,” with great songs and a tap-dancing ensemble. In case that sounds too trivial, he suggests that “some musicals are very dramatic.”
And we’re off to a “Chorus Line” bit, with great dancing.
Unfortunately, Nick’s attempt to get financing from local rich guy Lord Clapham (Greg Nicholas) falls on dead ears, and when Nick’s long-suffering wife Bea (Chloe Denton) mentions that she’s going to go to work (remember that unpaid rent?), Nick decides the time has come for action.
The first attempt, a musical called “The Black Death,” (sung by black-clad Grim Reapers) is a bomb, so it’s back to the drawing board.
Meanwhile, Nigel has hooked up with the lovely Portia (Liliana Rodriguez), whose only drawback is that she’s the daughter of one of those strict (and boring) Puritans. It’s always something…
While they’re wasting time on theater, Bea enters, dressed as a man and carrying a bucket of bear excrement. She even has a professional title: The Bear S*** Boy.” Hey, at least she’s making money.
Meanwhile Nigel sends a note and a sonnet he wrote to Shakespeare, who sends back an invitation to Shakespeare in the Park.
This is the Bard’s chance to shine, and he does, by quoting several of his own sonnets to great acclaim. He ends the act by concluding that he is “the will of the people now,” bringing the first act to a close with the romping song “Will Power.”
In the second act, ol’ Will is complaining about being so darn popular.
“It's a cross that I bear,
I'm like Jesus, I swear
It's a burden but I suffer through it.”
Makes you weep, doesn’t it? And when Will finally gets a brilliant idea, he remembers that it has to be in iambic pentameter. Ah, life is so difficult.
Meanwhile, Nick asks Nostradamus what Shakespeare’s new hit will be. The seer mispronounces “Hamlet” as “Omelette,” and Nick is off to do the next new hit:
“It’s Eggs!”
It just gets crazier from here on, with cracks about other familiar musicals, until finally Portia and Nigel get together, Daddy notwithstanding, and Nigel reads her his newly-written “Ode to Portia.”
They decide that it’s best to write and act from the heart, singing a lovely song called “To Thine Own Self” (be true).
More craziness ensues, including Shakespeare taking Nick to court for stealing money, not to mention ideas, and Nick is sentenced to beheading.
The cast, orchestra (led by Michael Patternostro), choreography (by Bill Burns) and rented sets are excellent all around.
You’ll have to see the play to see how it ends. Trust me, it will be worth your time.
The details
“Something Rotten!” plays through August 6, 2022 at Moonlight Amphitheatre, 1250 Vale Terrace Drive in Vista.
Shows at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, July 20-31 and Wednesday through Saturday, August 3-6.
Gates open at the open-air theater at 6:30 p.m. for dining (Bread and Cheese Eatery is the concessionaire) and picnicking.
Tickets ($17-$61): moonlightstage.com or (760) 724-2110.
COVID protocol: Masks suggested, not required.
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