"Something Rotten" Was Not Rotten

Prompt 238: What are the best live theatrical performances you've ever seen?

This prompt was made for me. But it's really difficult because, and I am so lucky and appreciative for this, I have seen A TON of live theatrical performances in my life, so it is hard to choose. But I think, hands down, the best show I have ever seen is Come From Away. There is no doubt in my mind. Now, I haven't seen any modern shows like Dear Evan Hansen or Hamilton that supposedly change lives, but I have seen Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, and while it was amazing, Come From Away was a truly perfect and moving story. But I've already written about Come From Away, so I'll talk about a different show: Something Rotten.

Something Rotten show is not the best show ever, but it is 100% the funniest show ever. Written by two brothers who Baton Rouge High graduates (I am not kidding), Something Rotten opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre in mid-2015 at closed on January 1, 2017, to make way for Frozen. The show is about two brothers living in the Renaissance who are playwrights, living under Shakespeare's shadow. Desperate to be successful and make a living, one of the brothers (Nick) goes to a fortune teller and asks what Shakespeare's next greatest hit will be. The answer: "omelet" (Hamlet). The fortune teller also predicts the next thing in theater will be "the musical," which is not a thing during that time. And thus, Nick is determined to write a musical about omelets.

The show is riddled with references to other musicals, with too many to count, and most of them are really clever. It helped that I got most of them, but I was rolling around in my chair laughing. If you want to hear some of the jokes/references, listen to "A Musical" or "It's Hard to be the Bard" on the Something Rotten album. The original cast starred Brian D'Arcy James as Nick and Christian Borle as Shakespeare, who received a Tony nomination for his role and is famous for the TV show Smash. When I saw the show, the original cast was gone, but it was still hilarious. The show is on tour now, and I really hope it comes to New Orleans soon. But for now, I highly suggest listening to the soundtrack.

While it is not the best musical ever, Something Rotten is one of the best that I've seen. It is no Phantom or Les Mis, but it is still amazing.