Cappies Review: 'Something Rotten!' At West Springfield High School

By Marin Wright of Fairfax High School

Welcome to the Renaissance, filled with Puritans, the Black Death, and the 1500s' biggest celebrity playwright, William Shakespeare. West Springfield High School's spectacular production of "Something Rotten!" was anything but rotten.

"Something Rotten!," written by Karey Kirkpatrick and Wayne Kirkpatrick, premiered on Broadway in 2015 and was nominated for 10 Tony awards, including Best Musical.

Set in 1595 in London, England, the Bottom brothers take on the seemingly impossible task to out-bard the Bard, William Shakespeare. In desperation, Nick Bottom seeks out Thomas Nostradamus, a fortune-teller who gives Nick the newest and best idea for him to write: a musical.

Christopher Seeger, appearing as Nostradamus, brought every aspect of his character to life. Seeger had the incredible ability to portray his character in such a way that every time he was on stage, he added something to the scene without taking it over. Seeger had the impressive ability to stay completely active in his character on stage.

Using very expressive facial expressions, he took the audience into his brain to see his thought process and reaction to what is going on in a scene. He also commanded the stage during large musical numbers like "A Musical" with a clean tone and full sound.

Portia, played by Maddie Orchard, had a strict Puritan upbringing, and although Portia was scared of disobeying her father, she held a secret love for poetry. Orchard was able to bring the nerdy and excited side out of her character, giving the audience a chance to see more into her character.

Orchard took the audience through Portia's character arc, showing the gained confidence through her changed body language and posture. Orchard also had a beautifully smooth and rich voice that suited this character well.

Joining Orchard on stage was Nick Frazier, who played Nigel Bottom, Portia's true love. Similar to Portia, Nigel went through a confidence-gaining character arc and Frazier's impressive ability to show the character's vulnerable side had the audience rooting for Nigel from the beginning.

Frazier and Orchard had incredible chemistry on stage, moving through their dialogue without any awkward beats while still being able to bring their nerdy relationship to life. Frazier was able to command the stage as he showed Nigel's growing confidence to break away from Nick.

West Springfield's tech aspects of "Something Rotten!" really tied it together. From the very beginning, the sets painted an appealing stage picture that was immersive to each audience member to keep them waiting for the next thing to happen on the edge of their seat.

Part of keeping this experience so immersive were the quick and efficient scene changes by the stage crew, led by stage manager Zoe Zackius-Shittu. Costumes also added to the immersiveness of this production. Costume designers Alina Yang and Skylar Buchholz created costumes that beautifully fit this time period. They were also able to create full cast costumes that, although they were only used once, shined on stage, and made the numbers feel even bigger and flashier.

To be or not to be-that is the question, but there is no question that West Springfield performed a show that should be written into history.