NEW YORK— When it comes to show business, the more things change, the more they stay the same, as the rollicking Broadway musical comedy “Something Rotten!” shows.
Creators Karey Kirkpatrick (book, music, and lyrics), John O'Farrell (book), and Wayne Kirkpatrick (music and lyrics) take potshots at the larger-than-life world of the theater, not shy at all about gleefully nipping and occasionally biting at the hands that feed them. Their jest succeeds particularly well when they occasionally soften the verbal slings and arrows with a bit of affection for their targets.
In South London, 1595, during that period now referred to as the English Renaissance, we find that art and culture flourish and, as the opening number notes, “everything is new.” True, the living conditions can be less than enviable; true, Jews aren’t allowed to be patrons of the arts; and true, the idea of a married woman getting a job outside the home is repellent to many, but on the whole, it’s an enlightened period.
Ironic juxtapositions run throughout.
It’s also a time when, if your name is not Shakespeare, it’s tough to be a playwright, as struggling scribes Nick and Nigel Bottom (Brian d'Arcy James, John Cariani) are all too aware.
