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Post by Michael on Mar 16, 2016 22:00:07 GMT
Seen Something Rotten on Broadway last Saturday, and as I've thoroughly enjoyed it, I was wondering if there are any plans of bringing the show over to London.
This show is genuinely funny, I can't remember when I've last laughed so hard and much in a theatre. And the score is great. Highlights were, of course, A Musical - I guess I missed quite a few of the references to other shows - and the title song Something Rotten. This show is stagey heaven.
I was glad to finally see Christian Borle on stage, but I did miss out on seeing Brian d'Arcy James, as he was off. Needless to say that his understudy was phenomenal.
If you happen to be on Broadway, go and see this show. They even do general rush.
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Post by avenueqresident on Mar 16, 2016 22:33:49 GMT
I believe there was an article in the Standard not too long back saying they were hoping to transfer it. Interesting to see how it would do as it's a very American take on Britain during Shakespeare's time.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 16, 2016 23:13:11 GMT
I wouldn't bet on this transferring. It's hardly setting Broadway alight and theatres are so hard to come by here for a musical.
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Post by Jon on Mar 16, 2016 23:56:21 GMT
I quite liked it but I don't think it would do well here unless they had a name for either Shakespeare or Nick Bottom.
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Post by Michael on Mar 17, 2016 1:55:55 GMT
I wouldn't bet on this transferring. It's hardly setting Broadway alight and theatres are so hard to come by here for a musical. Whenever I walked past TKTS on Times Square, I saw Something Rotten being offered with a 50% discount (but then again, Color Purple was as well), so I'm not sure if Something Rotten is doing that well, which is a shame, as I think it's a fantastic show. And yes, I do think that London audiences would enjoy this show. |
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Post by 49thand8th on Mar 17, 2016 3:01:49 GMT
I saw this show in previews and it felt like a 5-year-old tugging on my sleeve for 2.5 hours begging to be seen as funny.
But there were a lot of people around me laughing, so who am I to kill their fun?
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Post by Michael on Mar 17, 2016 3:13:33 GMT
We seem to have completely different types of humour then  |
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Post by Mark on Mar 17, 2016 7:40:23 GMT
Went to see it just after the TONYs and loved it. So much fun! Really hope it makes the transfer, the score is very catchy
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2016 9:20:25 GMT
In some ways it was amusing enough, but there was maybe just a little (read: a lot) too much homophobic humour for me to enjoy it properly. If it hadn't been for the cast, I don't think I'd have enjoyed it that much either. I'm sure they've meant for it to come to London, but it's so traditionally (and not ground-breakingly or interestingly) Broadway that I doubt it'd quite work here.
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Post by mallardo on Mar 17, 2016 9:26:11 GMT
In some ways it was amusing enough, but there was maybe just a little (read: a lot) too much homophobic humour for me to enjoy it properly. If it hadn't been for the cast, I don't think I'd have enjoyed it that much either. I'm sure they've meant for it to come to London, but it's so traditionally (and not ground-breakingly or interestingly) Broadway that I doubt it'd quite work here.
A lot of homophobic humour? Some stereotyping, perhaps, but I didn't detect homophobia, unless you equate the two.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2016 9:31:22 GMT
Ooh, I knew someone was going to ask! It was months ago that I saw it and I didn't memorise it or anything but I seem to remember a lot of laughs at the expense of the puritanical antagonist by having him acting in a camp and/or implicitly gay way, and although the intent may have been to have us laughing at his hypocrisy, I don't think the writing was really sophisticated enough to cover that and it just ended up making me really uncomfortable. EDIT: a quick Google for "something rotten homophobia" has thrown up this as the very first link, which covers what I wanted to say but in a much more eloquent way: howlround.com/exploring-gay-panic-humor-in-broadway-s-something-rotten So it's not just me, at least. |
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Post by mallardo on Mar 17, 2016 9:58:20 GMT
Okay, well, I take your point. Peter Bartlett and Brooks Ashmanskas, the actors concerned, are both camp specialists and are both very funny - doing the stereotypes they have done before in other shows. But I still don't class that as homophobia, which, after all, is a serious charge.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2016 10:07:35 GMT
Haha! Loving the idea that I shouldn't use words like "homophobia" in case I upset homophobes.  What next, should I refrain from calling Donald Trump a racist in case that makes him cry?  |
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Post by mallardo on Mar 17, 2016 10:32:05 GMT
Haha! Loving the idea that I shouldn't use words like "homophobia" in case I upset homophobes. What next, should I refrain from calling Donald Trump a racist in case that makes him cry?
Where did I say anything about upsetting homophobes? That's a hell of a leap. The fact is, in my opinion, that camp humour and homophobia are two different things. The actors themselves are ( in this case) gay. Do you think they would describe what they're doing as homophobic? Or were you just dying to bring Donald Trump into this?
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Post by freckles on Mar 17, 2016 10:47:55 GMT
I saw this recently and really enjoyed it. I thought it extremely witty in places and giggly-silly in others. The cast were all excellent and some of the staging and choreography was breathtaking - it was a much "bigger" show that I was expecting somehow.
I loved how it poked fun at Broadway (which inevitably involves a bit of camp - I didn't find anything offensive) and all the musical theatre references, as well as Shakespearean ones.
It's going to tour in the US, and I have been told there are hopes to bring it to the UK, but there seems to be some debate among the creatives as to what extent changes would have to be made for a UK audience.
For example, at present all of the cast playing Londoners have US accents except Shakespeare; if the cast is British, should Shakepeare have a US "rock star" accent? Will all of the gags work with different accents, etc. They pronounce "Renaissance" very differently in the US for example, so "Welcome to the Renaissance" wouldn't scan the British way! It has been very specifically written for Broadway, even though one of the writers is British, the glorious John O'Farrell.
But I like it, and have been enjoying the Cast Recording since I got home.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Mar 17, 2016 12:19:33 GMT
I saw this show in previews and it felt like a 5-year-old tugging on my sleeve for 2.5 hours begging to be seen as funny. But there were a lot of people around me laughing, so who am I to kill their fun? I love you. |
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Post by 49thand8th on Mar 17, 2016 13:59:19 GMT
Okay, well, I take your point. Peter Bartlett and Brooks Ashmanskas, the actors concerned, are both camp specialists and are both very funny - doing the stereotypes they have done before in other shows. But I still don't class that as homophobia, which, after all, is a serious charge. I wouldn't either, but I would say that the sniveling, prissy, closeted villain is a tired stereotype. |
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Post by westendwendy on Mar 17, 2016 14:08:39 GMT
They need to put "Lovely Love" back in the show - gorgeous song!
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Post by Hamilton Addict on Mar 31, 2016 16:11:17 GMT
Seen this three times on Broadway and I think it's amazing! There were talks of a transfer last year but there hasn't been much since then. I think the show would do well in London!
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Post by 49thand8th on Mar 31, 2016 16:51:54 GMT
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Post by Michael on Mar 31, 2016 17:01:05 GMT
Threads merged.
Next time you notice something similar, feel free to report this post.
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Post by Hamilton Addict on Mar 31, 2016 17:03:02 GMT
Threads merged.
Next time you notice something similar, feel free to report this post. Sorry, couldn't find this thread earlier, my mistake! Thanks for sending it my way! This forum stuff is still settling into my brain, but I'm sure I'll learn how to use it properly! |
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Post by Hamilton Addict on May 5, 2016 14:53:06 GMT
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Post by 49thand8th on May 5, 2016 15:05:48 GMT
Rob McClure is a fantastic performer -- he did a one-man Sweeney Todd medley at BroadwayCon. He seems a little young for this role, but I bet he'll be great.
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Post by mallardo on May 5, 2016 16:56:26 GMT
They could not have done better than Rob McClure. Now I'd like to see his bride in Honeymoon in Vegas, Brynn O'Malley, take over for Heidi Blickenstaff, if and when.
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What next, should I refrain from calling Donald Trump a racist in case that makes him cry? 
