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EDUCATIONALGUIDEBOOK BYKAREY KIRKPATRICK B JOHN O'FARRELLMUSIC & LYRICS BYWAYNE KIRKPATRICK B KAREY KIRKPATRICKConceived by Karey Kirkpatrick B Wayne KirkpatrickIllustrations by Peter de Sève
BOOK BYKAREY KIRKPATRICKB JOHN O’FARRELLMUSIC & LYRICS BYWAYNE KIRKPATRICKB KAREY KIRKPATRICKCONCEIVED BYKAREY KIRKPATRICKKate Reinders and John CarianiB WAYNE KIRKPATRICK WRITTEN BYWelcomeDEREK BOWLEYB VICHET CHUMCONTRIBUTING EDITORSMARTY JOHNSONMARIANNE PHELPSLAURA JO SCHUSTERPRODUCTION PHOTOSJOAN MARCUS HEREYE, HERE YE! Welcome tothe Something Rotten! Educational Guide, where quills and creative minds rule, and there’s nothing wrong with going backto school in the Renaissance. Running eight performances aweek at the St. James Theatre on Broadway, Something Rotten!follows Nick and Nigel Bottom, a pair of writing brothers whoare trying desperately to find the perfect story to put on thestage. The show imaginatively explores the intersection of Elizabethan drama and modern musicals while teaching lessonsabout overcoming obstacles and achieving true collaborationand friendship. So, pack your quill and put on your tap shoes.Let’s head to the Renaissance!DESIGN AND LAYOUTDANIELLE JOHNSONKEVIN M. JOHNSONSENIOR MANAGING EDITORSUSAN FULLERCREATED BYitheatrics.comCopyright iTheatrics 2015
Brian d’Arcy James, Brad Oscar and companyTABLE P CONTENTS PREPRODUCTION POSTPRODUCTIONTheater Etiquette .2How to Use This Guide .2Plot Synposis .3The Characters .5The Writers & Composers .6The World of the Show .8The Writers of 1595 .10ShakespeareThe Man, The Myth .11Musicals 101 .14Shakespeare Sings! .16What Inspires the SomethingRotten! Creative Team .18Developing & HoningYour Creativity .22Honoring Someone’s Ideas .23Poetic Writing .24Creative Writing as Self-Expression .26Writing for the Stage .27Reaching Your Goal .28Being Proud of Who You Are .29Art and Religion Through the Ages .31Careers in Theater .32RottenBroadway.comSomething Rotten! Educational Guide1
Theater EtiquetteHark! When you step intothe St. James Theatre onBroadway, just remember:this isn’t exactly 1595. Youare still in a Broadway theater.Here are a couple of tips to rockout in the Renaissance withproper etiquette.1425THOU SHAN’T TWEETETH.No cell phones, no texting, nophone calls and no social media!The Renaissance created somepretty cool things the cell phoneis not one of them.THOU SHALT FLUSHETH.Make sure to use the restroombefore the show. By this point, thefirst flushing toilet had been invented so flush away!3THOU SHAN’T SELFIETH.Photography and filming ofany kind is strictly prohibited atthe theater. Save your selfie for thestage door where the actors meetthe audience members.HOW TO USETHIS GUIDEThe Educational Guideis broken into two parts:Preproduction and Postproduction. The Preproduction section is craftedfor teachers to share withtheir students and includes2all you need to knowabout the show. It givesyou an in-depth look at themusical’s story, characters,authors and backgroundinformation on the Renaissance, the man and mythof Shakespeare, and theevolution of musicals.The Postproductionsection is specifically designed for students to ex-Something Rotten! Educational Guide THOU SHALT KEEP THYLIMBS TO THINE SELF.You’re not a groundling or a standing patron at Shakespeare’s GlobeTheatre. There are seats in theBroadway house, so remember tokeep your feet off them.THOU SHALT APPLAUDETH. It is standard toapplaud at the end of the show. Theperformers and everyone behindthe scenes put together this showfor you. Show them the propersupport for all their hard work.6THOU SHALT HAVE AGREAT TIME. The theateris a once-in-a-lifetime experience.Unlike a movie or a television show,you’re at the theater with audiencemembers, performers, technicians,house staff and more, sharing thisstory in real time. Sit back and enjoythe show!plore further on their ownor with minimal teacherguidance. This fun-filledsection includes activitieson developing a student’screativity, creating goals,cultivating self-confidenceand investigating careersin the theater. Additionally,inside you’ll find exclusiveinterviews with the show’screative team exploringthe imaginative and artisticjourney. Created for allages, this guide can beused independently orapplied to enrich a pre-existing curriculum. Eachpage is built so the fun ofSomething Rotten! doesn’thave to end at the theater. Use thisguide in theclassroom or at home – theRenaissance waits for you.RottenBroadway.com
ACT1Welcome to the Renaissance – whereart and science reign and the bubonicplague is so yesterday. It’s 1595 in SouthLondon, and the town’s MINSTRELand the TOWNSPEOPLE are celebrating the Renaissance of England (Welcome to the Renaissance) with artistsand writers like John Webster, BenJohnson, Christopher Marlowe andseveral others. But who’s the “whizof the Elizabethan stage”? Who’s “incredible, unforgettable, and just sofreakin’ awesome”? WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE! All other writers might aswell pack up their quills and go home.At a theater not too far away, apair of playwright brothers, NICKand NIGEL BOTTOM, run rehearsalof their new play, Richard II, with fellow actors TOM SNOUT, ROBIN,PETER QUINCE and the rest of theTROUPE. LORD CLAPHAM arrives toinform them that Shakespeare is doingthe exact same idea – and his openssooner! If the Bottom brothers don’tcome up with a new play ‘on the morrow,’ they’ll lose Clapham’s patronage.Nick, the older brother and drivingforce of the partnership, goes on a tirade about his hatred for Shakespeare(God, I Hate Shakespeare), while therest of the gang, including Nigel, theshy, insecure and unrecognized poetic genius, are in complete adoration.The Bottom brothers are stumpedfor an original idea and head to Nick’shome, where they find SHYLOCK, aRottenBroadway.comJewish money lender, whois there to collect on Nick’sdebt. However, Shylock hasan offer: he will forgiveNick of his loans if he canbecome an official investor in the Bottoms’next play. Unfortunately,having a Jewish patron isillegal, and with interest for Shylock’s loan doubling soon, Nick isunder a great deal of pressure. Insidethe house, BEA, Nick’s wife, is serving boiled cabbage she found at thestocks where the crowd was throwingit at criminals. Times are tough for thecouple, which is why Bea suggeststhat she get a job and even suggests she could be an actor in oneof the Bottoms’ plays (even thoughit’s against the law to put womenonstage). Though Nick is proudly adamant that he can get them out ofpoverty on his own, Bea reminds himthat she can be his second-in-command (Right Hand Man). Bea leaves tohunt for some meat to eat, and Nigelfalls asleep, daunted by the idea ofwriting anymore. Nick is left with nogood ideas (God, I Hate Shakespeare –Reprise) except maybe for one.Nick heads to Soothsayer Alley where he runs into an array ofeccentric characters. He’s lookingfor a soothsayer and inadvertently comes upon NOSTRADAMUS.But not the Nostradamus. This ishis nephew. THOMAS. That’s right.THOMAS NOSTRADAMUS, whoPREPRODUCTIONPlot SynopsisNick employs to look into the futureand foresee what the next big thing inthe theater well be. The answer? Musicals! Nostradamus shares with Nickthe most informational, spectacledpremonition either of them have everexperienced (A Musical). Nick has hisidea! The next day outside the theater, Nigel runs into a Puritan womannamed PORTIA for whom he instantly falls. But before they can share theirlove of poetry, Portia is pulled awayby her Puritan father, BROTHER JEREMIAH, who adamantly opposesthe sinful ways of theatrical arts. Nickreturns with a game plan while Nigel confesses his love for Portia. Nickwarns Nigel against falling in love witha Puritan and then reveals that a musical is their ticket to success. All theyneed now is the perfect subject. Atthe theater, the Troupe rehearses theirnew idea, a musical about the bubonic plague called The Black Death!.When Lord Clapham hears it, he is baffled and confused. He’s not the onlyone. Brother Jeremiah has heard aboutthe inclusion of singing in their showSomething Rotten! Educational Guide3
PREPRODUCTIONand arrives to warn the brothers that ifthey continue sinning, he will use hisrelationship with the Master of the Justice to end their theatrical careers. Withthat pressure, Clapham withdraws hispatronage.Nick and Nigel leave to regroupand run into Bea, who is dressed asa man. Turns out all the good jobs intown are for men. This humiliation onlyspurs Nick on to find a new patron andleave Nigel to come up with a newidea. But Nigel runs into Portia againwho has come to return a poem thatwas accidentally left with her after theirinitial encounter. Portia reveals to Nigelhow much she loves poetry and howmuch she loves his writing (I Love theWay). While they bond over their loveof literature, a MESSENGER arrives toinvite Nigel to a private recitation in thepark hosted by Shakespeare. The recitation is like a rock concert whereShakespeare is performing his greatest hits to a crowd of adoring fans(Will Power). Meanwhile, Nick pleadswith Lord Clapham to reconsider, butClapham won’t budge. There, he runsinto Bea, who has once again disguised herself as another man takingon a job helping break down Shakespeare’s stage, and she unexpectedlyreveals to Nick that she’s pregnant.After Bea leaves, Nick runs into Shylockwho informs him that Nigel is at a private party for Shakespeare, and Shylock can get him in if Nick reconsidershis former proposition.At the star-studded party, Shakespeare uses his influence and star status with Nigel to get the inside scoopon what the brothers are writing. Hemanages to coerce Nigel’s notebookof ideas away from him, but Nick arrives in time to question Shakespeare’sulterior motives. The rivalry betweenNick and Shakespeare began whenNick kicked Shakespeare out of his acting troupe because of Shakespeare’sless-than-desirable acting. Before Nick4Something Rotten! Educational Guide and Shakespeare erupt into blows,Brother Jeremiah arrives to retrievePortia, who has been drinking alcohol. Her father takes her away in arage. Nick reprimands Nigel for fallingfor Shakespeare’s false friendship andfor falling in love with a Puritan. Nigelruns after Portia while Nick is left tofigure out a solution fast. Desperateand out of options, he takes Shylockon as a financial backer, then returns toNostradamus for one final prediction:what will Shakespeare’s most famousplay be? Though his fortune-tellingskills are questionable, Nostradamusreveals that Shakespeare’s most famous play will be called. Omelette.With this news, Nick envisions theparamount success he will soon have(Bottom’s Gonna Be On Top). ACT2The Minstrel brings the audience backto Renaissance times, where the Bottom brothers are struggling to nail theirhit musical (Welcome to the Renaissance– Reprise). Meanwhile, Shakespeare iscaught expressing his own anxiety ofhaving to stay on top (Hard to Be theBard). His spy returns to Shakespeareto report that Nick Bottom was seenwith Nostradamus asking what wouldbe Shakespeare’s biggest hit. Keen toknow this himself, Shakespeare decides to disguise himself as an actor inhopes of joining Nick’s acting troupe.Nick has brought Nostradamus to thetheater in secrecy to consult aboutthe plot. Shylock arrives to hear thefirst new song for Omelette the Musical called “It’s Eggs!.” He doesn’t like itand neither does Nigel nor the rest ofthe Troupe. Shakespeare arrives disguised as Toby Belch, an actor fromYork, to join the company. After thedisappointing rehearsal, Nick wantsto keep writing, but Nigel has other plans and hastily leaves to see Portia. Once alone with her, Nigel sharesa poem that he’s written, and the twoimagine a life where their love is permissible with the Puritans (We See theLight). Unexpectedly, Brother Jeremiahand other Puritans find Portia and punish her by locking her in a tower whereshe will stay until her exile to Scotland.As a result, a heartbroken and artistically inspired Nigel has written newpages for a dark and tragic play, whichhe presents at the next rehearsal (theyare actual parts of the real Hamlet).When Nick hears the changes, he’sbaffled as to why they don’t have singing, they’re depressing and there areno eggs. The Bottom brothers can’tagree on which play to write (To ThineOwn Self), and Nigel leaves upset atthe direction in which Nick is movingthem. Shylock arrives to tell Nick thatthe show, which is one week away,is sold out. A deluded Nick is nowconvinced his Omelette idea will be ahuge success while Nigel is stoppedby Shakespeare, still dressed as TobyBelch, who is desperate to get the pages to Nigel’s new play. When he hearsNigel’s reverence for the Bard, Shakespeare leaves, and then promptlyreturns as himself, no longer in disguise. Feigning concern, he offers toread Nigel’s pages and offer feedback. Shakespeare uses his statusand influence to criticize Nigel’s brilliant writing and create doubt anduncertainty about the work. He takesthe precious pages, saying he doesn’twant to see them performed withNigel’s name on it, and he encourages Nigel to write his own Omelette. Adespondent Nigel then runs into Bea,who is with HELENA and MIRANDA,who’ve thrown a baby shower for her.When she hears that Nick and Nigelhave had a fight that threatens thepartnership, Bea reminds him that Nickis carrying the burden of the peoplehe cares about most (Right Hand Ma
mand (Right Hand Man). Bea leaves to hunt for some meat to eat, and Nigel falls asleep, daunted by the idea of writing anymore. Nick is left with no good ideas (God, I Hate Shakespeare – Reprise) except maybe for one. Nick heads to Soothsayer Al-ley where he runs into an array of eccentric characters. He’s looking
