Do you think Shakespeare is totally overrated? Do you ever wonder if there were any other playwrights during the Renaissance? If so, Something Rotten! may be the musical for you. This comedy musical follows two brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom, who try to make it big while everybody else seems to care only about Shakespeare.

Something Rotten! begins with a Minstrel welcoming you to the renaissance.  The performers are wearing Elizabethan era costumes that are complete with large skirts and men in tights.  Nick and Nigel are rehearsing their upcoming play, “Richard II” while Shakespeare is opening “Romeo and Juliet”.  A patron of the brothers’ plays, Lord Clapham, tells the brothers that Shakespeare is now also putting on “Richard II.”  Nick, the brother that hates Shakespeare, is enraged since Shakespeare already showed “Richard III” and going backwards seems absolutely absurd to him.  On the way back to their shared house Nick runs into Shylock the Jew who says he can help the brothers get funding but it is illegal to employ a Jew.  Bea, Nick’s wife, tells Nick and Nigel that she could help them out by getting a job.  Nick refuses since he believes the working is for men and that he should be able to provide for her.  Nick realizes that he only hates Shakespeare because he feels self-conscious.  To find a way to become better than Shakespeare, Nick steals money from their family savings to see a soothsayer.  The soothsayer named Thomas Nostradamus explains that musicals (a play where a performer suddenly bursts into song) are the next big thing in theatre.  At the same time Nigel met a Puritan girl who is the daughter of Brother Jeremiah named Portia.  They fell in love but Nick tells Nigel not to pursue this relationship because Portia is a Puritan.  Nick tells Nigel about musicals but does not mention that Thomas foresaw this future.  Although Nigel suggests they put on “The Brothers from Cornwall,” Nick refuses and says it must be a bigger production such as a musical about the Black Death.  Lord Clapham dislikes the idea of a musical and deserts the troupe.  Nigel then tries to write a new play and meets Portia again, where they discover that they have a lot in common.  Nigel receives an invitation to attend “Shakespeare in the Park” and confesses that he sent one of his sonnets to Shakespeare to get some feedback from him.  Portia agrees to go with him as his plus one.  At the after party Portia gets drunks and Shakespeare asks to read Nigel’s poems.  Nick runs in to tell Nigel that he is naive and yells at Shakespeare to stop stealing his brother’s ideas.  Brother Jeremiah finds Portia drunk with Nigel and yells at him.  Nick goes back to Thomas and is told that Shakespeare’s next big hit will be called “Omelette;” however, this was misinterpreted from the actual play, “Hamlet.”  Nick becomes excited at the prospect of becoming more famous than Shakespeare.

The Minstrel tells the audience about the brothers and Shakespeare having difficulties in their positions.  Shakespeare is having trouble being famous and writing new plays at the same time (first world problems, right?).  A spy tells him that Nick and Nigel are trying to steal his play so he pretends to an actor auditioning for them.  Nick and Nigel are rehearsing, “Omelette: The Musical,” with Shylock as their new investor.  Thomas, pretending to be an actor, is also at the theatre.  After Shakespeare is hired he is surprised to learn that his new play was going to be about eggs.  Nigel sneaks out to see Portia but is worried about their future.  Portia reassures him that Nick and Brother Jeremiah will support their relationship once they hear Nigel’s sonnets.  Nigel is not happy with how “Omelette” is turning out and says that it feels wrong to him.  Brother Jeremiah finds them together and takes Portia off to be imprisoned in a tower.  Nigel, now heartbroken, is inspired to write a different play which turns out to be, “Hamlet.”  The next day, Nigel tells Nick about the new play but they end up arguing.  Shakespeare, undercover as an acotr, takes advantage of their argument and confronts Nigel.  He takes the script from Nigel saying he will help improve it.  Later, Bea tries to convince Nigel that Nick can still be trusted because they can go to him if all else fails.  Despite having second thoughts about, “Omelette,” Nick decides to go on with the show because there are many people lined up to see the musical.  The troupe performs a song that has many references to modern day musicals.  At the end of their performance Shakespeare reveals himself in the midst of the troupe and sues the brothers.  The troupe and Nigel are also horrified to find out that Thomas is a soothsayer.  Shylock, Nick, Nigel, and Thomas are on trial and Nick is to be beheaded.  Bea, disguised as a male lawyer, has Nick confess that he stole from their savings and says that he must have already lost his head.  She made a deal with Shakespeare that they will all be exiled to America.  Portia arrives at this point, having escaped her tower, and joins in exile.  When they arrive in America they tell the audience about opportunities in the New World.  They realize that Shakespeare’s hit show was not Omelette, but Hamlet and Thomas replies that he was “this close.”

While I have not seen this show, one of my best friends was able to see it while it was still playing.  She said it was so funny and that the audience could not stop laughing.