LOGAN — If someone asked me for a company I think is underrated and deserves more attention my answer would definitely be Music Theatre West in Logan. I have seen a number of shows there and they have never missed with professional quality musicals that are entertaining and impeccably produced. Their latest mounting of Something Rotten, co-produced with Cache Theatre Company, is no exception to this tradition and should not be missed.
It’s kind of ironic because Something Rotten was written by brothers Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick with Karey and John O’Farrell drafting the book. Just by chance this same team also wrote Mrs Doubtfire: The Musical which I also reviewed this week, but I wasn’t a big fan of that one, so it’s a blessing I got to see something from them I like much better at MTW. It just goes to show how tricky it is to craft a winning comedic musical, but they really got it right with Something Rotten.
Director Stephanie White has brought out the best in the material particularly working with her ensemble to squeeze as much entertainment as possible out of every scene. I was especially impressed by how much dance they worked into practically every song. White is also the choreographer of the show and it shows because I’ve never seen a Something Rotten that had so much dancing. For example, in “We See the Light” the somewhat forgettable number is turned into a song and dance routine with group choreography and colored fabric underneath the Puritan dresses. For a show I have seen many times this kept everything fresh and exciting.
SOMETHING ROTTEN at Ellen Eccles Theatre, 2024. Photo by Shanda Call.
White seemed to be especially skilled at bringing tap dancing into nearly every scene with at times the entire ensemble with tap shoes and at one scene the actors removed covers from their shoes and tossed them aside to reveal tap shoes they could dance with.
The costumes by Lydia Semler are also brilliant. Any musical theatre fan will love looking for all the homages to other musicals in “A Musical” or “Bottom’s Gonna Be on Top” (over 34 musicals are paid tribute to within the show many through costume.) My favorite look of the evening was the egg outfits for “Make an Omelette.” At first, they look like all-white ghost outfits and then when they open up you see the yellow egg yolk and then yellow ribbon is thrown out to show the runny egg. It was extremely clever especially when combined with tap dancing. The sets are impressive (no set designer credited in the program) with painted Renaissance village backdrops and several other setpieces like Nick and Bea’s house and the chapel with stained glass background.
The cast is excellent with professional-quality performances. You have to believe Nick and Nigel are brothers and Sam Teuscher and Landon Weeks have that familiar chemistry together respectively. When they quarrel in”To Thine Own Self” you can feel the disappointment in their faces and expressions. Chris Metz has the moxie for the rockstar version of Shakespeare the script requires (although he did struggle a bit with the dancing but he did his best.) For a good portion of the musical Shakespeare is in disguise so Metz has to really make those scenes where he is the conceited version of the character memorable and full of swagger.
SOMETHING ROTTEN at Ellen Eccles Theatre, 2024. Photo by Shanda Call.
Brad Noble is a ton of fun as Nostradamus straining to predict the future with a real struggle in his face, and Bennett Floyd probably has the best voice of the group as Brother Jeremiah. There are times when the accents and how fast the dialogue goes make it hard to understand what the actors are saying and they could all enunciate more but it’s overall a terrific group of comedic actors.
One of the biggest laughs of the night comes in the first act when Nick Bottom shows his investor Shylock his new musical “The Black Death” and they have a tap dancing chorus with grim reapers with black robes and scythes. That’s just funny stuff. Some of the other humor is more inside baseball for musical theatre hardcore fans. I love it but some of the humor was lost on someone like my Dad.
That said, anyone should find plenty to love in Music Theatre West’s production of Something Rotten co-produced with Cache Theatre Company. The dancing and singing are so good that alone should entertain the audience along with the laughs of all variety. There are some more mature moments to the humor but nothing too outlandish. If in the Logan area definitely pick up a ticket to this terrific and very funny night of musical theatre. Anyone who does will definitely leave on top!
