The musical comedy Something Rotten is coming to the Bradley Hall stage- and the cast and crew could not be more excited! In this interview, Rory Collins ’23, Lily Recht ’23, and Eliana Lippman ’23 discuss preparing for opening night, their roles on and off stage, and what they will take away from the show.
You can see Something Rotten at Beaver at 7 P.M. on Thursday, May 18, Friday, May 19, and Saturday, May 20. Tickets can be purchased here.
What is your role in this production of Something Rotten?
Eliana: I’m stage managing the show.
Rory: I’m the production stage manager of the show.
Lily: I’m the character Shylock in the show.
How has the process of auditioning, rehearsing, and preparing for the show been?
Eliana: From a stage manager perspective, it’s been chaotic. This show has a lot going on in terms of sets and props. We just starting doing tech yesterday and I feel like there is always a million things going on. It’s going to make for a really visually engaging and entertaining show. Everyone is working so hard. People are meeting outside of class time and planning rehearsals on their own. Everyone is putting their all into it.
Rory: Looking from the outside at the actors, it’s really impressive how many songs and lines and how much blocking they’ve learned. They’ve made the show their own and were able to do so in only a few months; we started at the beginning of spring term. It feels like it has flown by.
Lily: The cast is amazing; everyone works so well together. Since auditions, the cast has really bonded together. It’s going to come out to be a really entertaining show.
Why would you recommend checking out Something Rotten?
Eliana: It’s a really good showcase of the multiple facets of the performing arts department. There’s some highly entertaining performances from people who have put a lot into this process.
Lily: I think you should see it because it’s a few hours of entertainment, fun, and excitement and it’s overall a really good time. It’s very energetic and exciting. It’s something Beaver hasn’t done in awhile.
Rory: Why would you not want to see your peers dressed in renaissance era outfits tap dancing?
It sounds like there is a lot going on in this show. Can you list some of the things that may happen on stage?
Rory: There’s dancing, tap dancing. There’s eggs and omelets.
Eliana: There’s people with long hair. People with short hair too. Singing.
Rory: There’s merchandise of Shakespeare. A whole concert of Shakespeare. There’s a fortune teller and a whole court scene. There’s references to your favorite musicals.
Lily: There are star-crossed lovers.
What have you personally taken away from this entire experience?
Rory: We haven’t been able to do a lot of musicals in our time at Beaver, so it has been so great to be a part of a cast and crew where everyone really wants to be there and is having a really fun time. It’s great to see all the actors having a lot of fun because then you as a stage manager or a technician or a costumer see that and suddenly you are like “oh this is so much fun. I’m having a great time.”
Eliana: This is my first time stage managing anything, I am an actor primarily. Regardless, I wanted to be involved in this musical. It seemed like a good final theater experience since I’ve been involved in the theater community my entire time at Beaver. It’s been hugely enlightening and fun.
Lily: This show is special because we haven’t had a lot of musicals these last few years. This show has everything from singing to dancing to acting. It’s really fun to get to do all of those things in such a big and exciting way. The musical has given me such great friends.
More about Something Rotten
Book by Karey Kirkpatrick & John O’Farrell
Music & Lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick & Karey Kirkpatrick
Conceived by Karey Kirkpatrick and Wayne Kirkpatrick
Synopsis:
Set in the 1590s, brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rock star known as “The Bard” (William Shakespeare). When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing, and acting at the same time, Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first musical. But amidst the scandalous excitement of opening night, the Bottom Brothers realize that reaching the top means being true to thine own self.
Performers:
Orli Azoulay ’26, Wilson Baker ’24, Daniel Calvo ’23, Xiao Mei Casado ’24, Lily Chorev ’26, Reagan Coughlin ’26, Henry Diver ’26, Ardelia Doyle ’23, Owen Eddy ’25, Aidan Emmons ’25, Christian Guerrier ’24, Liam Infantino ’23, Mia Kelley ’25, Alexandra Liodakis ’24, Avery Moss ’24, Robin Murphy ’25, Jean Carlos Perez-Lemus ’23, Lily Recht ’23, Tyler Reif ’24, Leili Singer ’26, Miles Wheatland ’26, Justin White ’24
Stage Management:
Rory Collins ’23, Alex Fox ’25, Eliana Lippman ’23, Cedar Schiavo ’26
Technicians:
Spencer Ankner ’23, Lane Araujo ’24, Annalisa DePina ’26, Max Feinberg ’24, Nathan Green ’23, Marin Reeds ’24, Spencer Sarkis ’26, Sam Steere ’26
Costumers:
Adele Bigley ’26, Caroline Dies ’24, Jackie Guerrier ’25, Aliya Joshi ’26, Rose Levine ’23, Kayla Toussaint ’25
Production Team:
Tina Farrell, Vlad Derisier, Michael Sansoni, Bethany Eddy, Kenny Burt, Jen Yolles