The details of William Shakespeare’s life have scattered in the winds of time like so many of his folio pages. The good news is that this vacuum affords the wide berth of speculation.
And that inscrutability of Shakespeare, it turns out, is the makings of a highly entertaining, positively antic work of musical theater being performed now in Mount Pleasant.
It got started with a pair of Louisiana-born, theater-loving brothers, Karey Kirkpatrick and Wayne Kirkpatrick. Around the mid-1990s, they dreamed up their own hilarious version of historical events and put those conjectures in musical form no less with sights on a new Broadway show.
The result is Something Rotten! – the phenomenally giddy musical for which they also enlisted John O’Farrell on the book with Karey Kirkpatrick, who is known for his screenwriting work – complete with the de rigeur exclamation point for the marquee flagging that this will be a high-kicking, blowsy, razzle-dazzle affair.
And it most certainly is. A Broadway darling in 2015, it has now landed with delicious quips and quill pens at The Venue MTP, the new arts center in Mount Pleasant, via a production from its anchor tenant, Village Repertory Co. directed by founding artistic director Keely Enright. The local production runs through March 7.
For many attending the production, it may be a first foray into the company’s new Mount Pleasant home on Johnnie Dodds Blvd. Newcomers to the space can expect a double-dose of the verve, rigor and design chops that have traveled with the company from one venue to the next – both in its cheery new venue and in its expansive set.
So you’ll first enjoy a gander of the bold swaths of mid-century orange and teal that coat the high walls, the sleek bar an easy gallop from your seat, and the better-than-they-have-to-be restrooms, too.
After taking in all that vibrant eye candy, you’ll still admire the Tudor village stretching over the back of the house, and also featuring a center thrust of a runway on which the cast frequently parades and vamps, courtesy of Sarah Callahan Black’s commendable choreography.. And the cast is considerable – 23 actors and an onstage four-person band comprising musical director Misha Pekar (keyboard), John Holenko (guitar), Roman Pekar (electric bass) and Kain Naylor (drums), all in inspired costumes by Julie Ziff.
And so the Elizabethan hijinks begin.
First, we meet the Bottom brothers – Nick (the everyman Robbie Thomas) and Nigel (a charming John Black). It’s 1595 and the two are scrambling with their London theater troupe to turn out a profitable play, with a pressuring patron and the spectre of relentless star turns of a rival theatermaker, one William Shakespeare. He is so under Nick’s skin he belts out the brilliantly relatable tune, “God, Hate Shakespeare.” Even with the intrepid support of his wife Bea (the engaging Anna Baker).
Eventually we meet that plight personified – the Bard himself, played to tremendous comic effect by Aaron Hancock as a leather-clad, vainglorious rock star of scribe. From there, we skitter from one delicious scene to the next. These are peopled with a rogue’s gallery of friends and foils: an oddball Nostradamus, played with quirky verve by Bradley Keith; the fervently intolerant, sexually repressed Puritan, portrayed with staunch commitment and some surprise chiffon by an all-in Paul O’Brien; the central casting Shylock, with Nat Jones mugging with the best of them.
All in all, the work morphs the mystery surrounding Shakespeare’s life into the most irresistible musical mashup of Broadway musicals that reminded me of what I love about the genre, and why it’s a theatrical form that is also so phenomenally easy to take the piss out of. The infusion and sendup of great Shakespearean works is equally delicious, offering those among us who double-nerds an insider baseball headrush of sendups.
And, yes, it’s a musical, so you’ll get rousing romps from the get-go, delivered by principals and with an ensemble, including ditties like “Welcome to the Renaissance,” “It’s Hard to be the Bard” and a, yes, side-splitting “The Black Death” and “Make an Omelette.”
And, like a good musical, there’s a tender tune or two, among them “I Love the Way,” the duet between the star-crossed Nigel and his fetching love interest Portia (the charming Mackenzie Comer), and “To Thine Own Self,” which borrows from the Bard to crack the work’s emotional core.
True, some vocals waver at times, but often these lively performers nail them, so bide your time and enjoy the boisterous ride.
But like a work of Shakespeare, there’s not a lick writ in Something Rotten! that doesn’t aim to entertain – and plenty of Bardy bawd to boot. So do yourself a favor and get thee to Johnnie Dodds, where you can check out Village Rep’s upbeat new venue – and where 23 fine players and four fine musicians are currently primed to please. You won’t be disappointed.
IF YOU WANT TO GO: Something Rotten! runs through March 7 at The Venue MTP, 627 Johnnie Dodds Blvd Suite 107, Mount Pleasant. Tickets range from $40 to $53. More: villagerep.com
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