When someone says “Renaissance,” we think of corsets, giant turkey legs, singing minstrels, and The Black Death, among other things. Rarely do we think of tap dancing. 

Fort Wayne Civic is setting out to change all of that when they open their 2023-24 season with the outrageous musical farce Something Rotten!, playing July 21-30 at Arts United Center.

Director Christopher J. Murphy is very pleased Something Rotten! is making its debut in the Summit City. 

“What makes the production super great is that we’re taking an amazingly funny, brassy script and score from this Broadway musical that nobody in Fort Wayne has ever seen before, and mixing it in with a big, funny, brassy group of Fort Wayne’s best singers, dancers, and actors, and putting it all on the Civic Theater stage,” he said. 

Merging comedy, Music

Something Rotten! is the history-twisting story of brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom who are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rock star known as “The Bard.” In attempts to overcome William Shakespeare’s popularity, the brothers consult with a local soothsayer who foretells that the future of theater involves singing, dancing, and acting at the same time. This sets Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first musical. 

Hilarity ensues.

“I’m excited to direct it because it’s an absolutely hilariously funny script,” Murphy said. 

“Musical comedy sometimes misses out on the comedy in favor of the musical aspect of the show. But I think this show, the script is just hilariously funny and ridiculous and over the top. So, it’s given me a chance to gather some of my dearest friends and colleagues who are brilliant comedians and just let them do their thing.”

Split over The Bard

One such performer is Todd Frymier who plays the role of Nick Bottom. 

Nick, who runs the theater troupe he shares with his brother Nigel, finds himself at odds with Shakespeare throughout the show. Nick even sings of his detestation of The Bard.

It turns out that Frymier shares some of his character’s feelings. 

“Here’s my deal,” Frymier said. “I think Shakespeare is good for some people, other people not so much. I’ve done some Shakespeare in my career, but I would say I prefer most theater over Shakespeare. 

“I think there are people who will always enjoy and appreciate Shakespeare, but I think that perhaps he wouldn’t be quite the rock star he was in his time were he writing today.”

Murphy is very much on the other side of the fence 

“I love Shakespeare!” he said. “One of the things that I love about getting to direct this is that my day gig is as the associate director of the Fort Wayne Youtheatre. Teaching Shakespeare and teaching the history of musical theater are two of my favorite aspects of my day job. They’re things that I’m really, really passionate about, and so getting to combine both of those things into directing this play has been really delightful.”

Something for Everyone

In Something Rotten!, Shakespeare is portrayed very much as a rock star, with an entourage and fan girls. When looking at what a modern Shakespeare might look like, Murphy had something else in mind. 

“Lin-Manuel Miranda, I think that would be a very good comparison, and actually our show was written pre-Hamilton and so, while it has all of these wonderful musical theater references in it, it did not have a Hamilton reference in it,” he said. “So, we took a section of the show that is normally performed one way and turned it into a giant Hamilton (reference).”

Frymier also finds fun in how referential moments of the show are. 

“It hits so much on musical theater, it kind of slapsticks it up,” he said. “The whole thing is that if you’re a theater person, you’ll enjoy it even more. If you’re not, then you’ll enjoy it because it’s fun, it’s light-hearted, it doesn’t take itself too seriously.” 

Murphy elaborates: “I think if you are a lover of musical theater, then I think this is the type of show that is going to have a ton of references and homages and Easter eggs that you’re going to eat up with a spoon. 

“I think if you’re a person who loves Shakespeare, you’re going to have a ton of references and homages and Easter eggs that you’re going to just eat up with a spoon, too. But I think that if you’re not super into either of those things, there’s still tons up on that stage that you’re going to love.”

Well-rounded show

Something Rotten! is being produced on a large scale for Civic, which was something that really felt right to Frymier. 

“Honestly, what is making this show truly wonderful for me is all of the people that I’m working with,” he said. “I haven’t done a musical of this scale in a long time, and to be able to be in the part I am in and do it on the scale that we are, it’s just fun.”

As director of the show, Murphy finds it impossible to choose only one thing that makes the production as awesome as it has become. 

“I watch the choreography that our choreographer Heather Closson has put together, and it is just amazing,” he said. “I mean, the tap dancing — these people are really terrific and they’ve been terrific from day one. I think that really the cast is the best thing, but boy, I would be hard-pressed to pick just one thing about them. Their dancing is amazing, the singing is beautiful, the jokes are hilarious, I think overall it’s just a great, great show.” 

It seems safe to say that when Something Rotten! opens on July 21, Fort Wayne will definitely be looking at “the funniest musical comedy in at least 400 years.”