Review: "Something Rotten" by East Lyme Regional Theater

East Lyme - The East Lyme Regional Theater presented an excellent production of the hit musical comedy “Something Rotten!” The very funny musical with a book by Karey Kirkpatrick John O’Farrell and music and new lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick is set in the time of William Shakespeare and is full of cheeky references to other Broadway musicals. Some may take this as poking fun at the genre, but I prefer to think of the show as an homage. It is always fun to try to see how many of these references that I can catch.

The Bottom brothers are trying to come up with a production that will compete with the works of Shakespeare when a soothsayer predicts that “Omelette” will be The Bard’s next big hit and suggests that the brothers present a musical of the piece. The musical version of “Hamlet” with a running egg theme is hysterical, but gets the company in big trouble with the local Puritans.

The delightful production was directed and choreographed by the multi-talented Erin Sousa-Stanley, who was overjoyed to be presenting a live performance after being dark last summer. She expressed her gratitude to the cast for their dedication and energy who worked tirelessly to bring the show to life, both onstage and backstage.

Her husband Chris Stanley served as the musical director and joyfully conducted the pitch-perfect orchestra that rose to the challenge of the score. I know this because I chose to sit facing the musicians that volunteered to be part of the pit orchestra.

ELRT rehearsed for many hours to present only three performances at East Lyme High School and were restricted to reduced capacity. Rest assured that their audiences appreciated all of their hard work and enjoyed every minute. I was honored to be invited to attend the Sunday matinee and look forward to returning next year.

Leading the cast as Nick Bottom was Zach Scovish, who made the most of his time on the stage. His wife Courtney Scovish captured the role of Nick’s wife, Bea, and was a strong comedic actor and singer in her debut with this company. The fact that she is actually pregnant matched the character’s arc and the chemistry of the couple was charmingly authentic. The couple’s real-life son is due in just a few months.

Spencer Stanley, who was seven years of age when his parents started this theatre company and has been in almost every show since then, is heading off to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music to pursue his passion. His last role before he begins his university studies was as Nigel Bottom, Nick’s younger brother. He nailed every aspect of the well-developed role and even changed costumes to dance with the members of the ensemble for many of the dance breaks. Mr. Stanley, who played Finch in “How to Succeed with ELRT, was recently honored with a Stephen Sondheim Award for Best Actor.

Grace Gilbert was luminous in the role of Portia, the Puritan daughter who catches the eye of Nigel. Ms. Gilbert, who won a Halo Award and a Stephen Sondheim Award nomination for her role as Dolly Levi in “Hello Dolly,” is a junior at Plymouth State University, studying Musical Theatre. I could not take my eyes off of this talented young woman, who also changed often to be a part of the ensemble, and I predict that she will go far.

Of course Cory Candelet, a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC, was a delight as (the very full of himself) William Shakespeare. The actor also served as associate choreographer.

David Conaway was very animated in the role of Nostradamus and Jaron Wilbur gave a large and very funny performance as Brother Jeremiah in his 11th production with ELRT.

Rob Bevacqua played the patron Lord Clapham and Nick Kasprzak was a riot as Shylock. Chris Gregor sang so very well as the Minstrel, despite some annoying microphone issues, as well as playing Snug, with Kyler Christina as Robin, Jack Lombardo as Peter Quince and Justin Berg as Tom Snout.

Each and every member of the ensemble danced wonderfully, as well as frequently changing costumes to take on another part. I loved “Welcome to the Renaissance,” but my favorite was probably “Will Power.”

Dave Custodio designed the charming set and Ms. Sousa Stanley designed the perfectly Elizabethan costumes. There were some sound issues at the matinee that did improve as the performance progressed.

The production team is looking for a home for ELRT and is accepting donations to make that happen.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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