Lyric’s ‘Something Rotten’ is actually very fresh

By Rich Fahey

BOSTON – Welcome to The Renaissance, as seen through the eyes of some delightfully wacky playwrights/composers, a superb cast, and crews of musicians and designers who will together constantly tickle your funny bone for 21/2 hours.

The Lyric Stage Company’s delightful production of “Something Rotten” is a spring awakening of a different sort. It’s a madcap 16^th Century mash-up that sees failing playwrights Nick and Nigel Bottom (Ryan Mardesich and Ohad Askkenazi) determined to knock an arrogant, full-of-himself William Shakespeare (Jared Troilo) off his throne by staging – wait for it —  the world’s first musical. Shakespeare was once a member of the Bottoms’ troupe before going out on his own, making the rivalry even stronger.

“Something Rotten” is also a love letter to and a send-up of those same musicals we have known and loved through the decades. It’s great fun to see how many musicals – and in how many different ways – the show’s creators can shoehorn into the show. There are also snippets of the Bard’s works woven in as the show pokes fun at his godlike status, which Troilo exploits in depicting Shakespeare as an out-of-control rock star, gyrating madly as the women swoon.

It all springs from the imaginations of Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, who wrote the book, and Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick, who wrote the music and lyrics, with arrangements by Glenn Kelly and orchestrations by Larry Hochman.

There is no weak link in the cast, with wonderful turns by Mardesich as Nick Bottoms, driven to distraction in his quest and Ashkenazi as Nigel, a talented but sensitive poet who meets a kindred soul in Portia (Lauren Dodds). Right away, there is trouble in River City. She is the daughter of constable Brother Jeremiah (an over-the-top Ken Kelleher), a Puritan who doth protest too much about the heathen world of theater, and who hates the Bottoms with passion.

There are a fistful of other fabulous supporting performances. Kristian Espiritu is Bea, Nick’s spirited, supportive spouse, determined to carve out a role for herself as a woman not even allowed to set foot on the stage of her husband’s shows.  The estimable Bobbi Steinbach is Shylock, a would-be producer for the Bottom brothers whom Shakespeare has promised to include as a character in an upcoming productiion; Joy Clark is Thomas Nostradamus, a soothsayer employed by Nick who narrowly misses the mark when forecasting Shakespeare’s upcoming hit, resulting in “Omelet, The Musical.”

Bryan Miner is Lord Clapham (and other hilarious roles), the Bottoms’s off and on patron, who eventually jumps ship. The glorious ensemble —  and this show goes nowhere without them — includes Jonah Barriclo. Temma Beaudreau, Danny Hernandez, Elliana Karris, Jennifer Preston, Indijhan Richard, and Colin Welter.

The boffo production numbers featuring choreographer Christopher Shin’s work are off and running early, from the opening “Welcome to the Renaissance” to “God, I Hate Shakespeare,” and, especially, “The Black Death,” Nick’s early effort at a musical about the plague that crashes and burns.

 There’s tributes to dance shows such as “A Chorus Line”  and some savvy tap dancing, even a “tap off” between two main characters.

You cannot overstate the importance of the work by director Ilana Ransom Toeplitz, making her debut at Lyric Stage and the ringmaster of a three-ring comic circus, molding it into a coherent theatrical production while making sure the performers toe the mark. It is a masterful achievement, especially for a first-time effort at this theater, which does have its quirks, especially when it comes to entrances and exits for performers.

Music director Katya Stanislavskaya fronts a peppy five-piece orchestra that gives full voice to the score.

The work of the design team perfectly complements Toeplitz’s efforts and firmly plants the piece in the 16^th Century, thanks to Chloe Moore’s work with its pleated puffy pants, outfits for dancing eggs, and a Puritan in authentic garb. Scenic designer Cameron McEachern gives us a sense of time and place, as do the props by Lauren Coruera, augmented by the sound by Alex Berg and Bretton Reis’s lighting.

It all works. Through the years, Lyric Stage has often been at its best staging shows such as this madcap musical when spring is finally in the air, and we’re ready to laugh and smile as one. And you don’t even have to “Brush up Your Shakespeare” to have a great time.

The Lyric Stage Company production of “Something Rotten.” Book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell. Music and lyrics by Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick, A arrangements by Glenn Kelly and orchestrations by Larry Hochman. Directed by Ilana Ransom Toeplitz. LyricStage.com.