When Brian d'Arcy James steps onstage as Nick Bottom at the St. James Theatre and defiantly declares, 鈥淕od, I Hate Shakespeare,鈥� he鈥檚 met with cheers and applause. Such a response is typical, nay, expected, when a seasoned Broadway performer delivers the punchline to a cleverly written number. Yet, in this case, there鈥檚 another reason the song elicits the uproarious reaction. For better or worse, many audiences share the sentiment.
The work of the Bard can be difficult to comprehend. John Cariani, the actor-playwright who appears as Nigel Bottom in the smash and , feels the confusion stems from the fact that 鈥渁 lot of his plays aren鈥檛 very good. And I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 dissing the Bard at all. I think that鈥檚 just saying that there are some plays that feel cobbled together by other people ... and don鈥檛 make a whole lot of sense. They have gorgeous elements and images and poetry, but as a whole, they don鈥檛 quite hold together. 鈥�
On the other hand, Brad Oscar, the production鈥檚 Nostradamus, says the cause of misunderstanding couldn鈥檛 be more obvious: 鈥淚t鈥檚 always the language, right?鈥� As Something Rotten!鈥檚 lyrics purport 鈥渉e has no sense about the audience [and] makes them feel so dumb.鈥� Oscar agrees, 鈥淚t鈥檚 so dense. We don鈥檛 get it.鈥�
Still, the cast feels it鈥檚 a problem we need to fix. Shakespeare鈥檚 work is the foundation of much modern literature; he's also a genuine master of language. 鈥淗e takes earth-bound, tangible things and blows them up with poetry,鈥� notes Cariani, who cites Shakespeare鈥榮 verse 鈥淭he quality of mercy is not strained.鈥� 鈥�That's what mercy is... I get it now. How cool is that?!鈥�
Making the poet鈥檚 work accessible begins with winning over the youngest generation, 鈥渂y having them go to see as much Shakespeare as they can,鈥� says Edward Hibbert, currently appearing as Lord Clapham in the tuner.
Heidi Blickenstaff (who plays Nick鈥檚 wife, Bea) suggests kids attend a festival or theatres that produce multiple works鈥攍ike the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a venue she frequented when she was younger. 鈥淣ot only do they have the great shows that they do, but also they have programs where the actors teach the young people.鈥� offer a deeper exploration of the text and themes present in the season鈥檚 plays.
If, as Oscar suggests, the issue is the language, James argues technological advances and directorial creativity have already begun to help. 鈥淭here鈥檚 all kinds of possibilities to put new spins on [his work 鈥� or to] contemporize it and to make it accessible,鈥� he says. 鈥淸Today,] you can see a production of a classic play that he wrote and not necessarily have to feel shunned by the form鈥r the language of it.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 really important for us to remember that just because [the original presentation of these plays] happened a long time ago, [it] doesn鈥檛 mean that those feelings and ideas that people had are different [than now],鈥� explains Cariani. These stories chronicling love, jealousy, battling enemies and inner demons, and ultimately, finding yourself 鈥渁re the same stories we tell in all of our superhero movies.鈥�
In the case of Something Rotten!, the comedic look at the playwright鈥檚 life and times presents Shakespeare himself (the Tony-winning Christian Borle) as a Billy Idol-esque rock star, outfitted in guy-liner and skin-tight leather pants鈥斺€淸which] help in ways that you can鈥檛 even imagine,鈥� laughs Borle鈥攊n an effort to make him a personality-type we all recognize.
Oscar thinks the arrogant treatment is a bit of a catharsis for audiences 鈥渂ecause he is so impossible for some people [to understand] and some people seem to hate him so much. It鈥檚 fun to be able to make fun of him, certainly.鈥�
Comedy aside, the cast acknowledges the exaggerated version of the man they鈥檙e presenting in their show is a version of him nonetheless. 鈥淭his person was indeed a person, as opposed to some kind of myth,鈥� says James鈥攁nd they鈥檙e hoping that that awareness has some type of influence on the crowd. 鈥淗opefully, that can be an entr茅e for people鈥攅specially young people鈥攖o say, 鈥榃ell, what exactly is Shakespeare?鈥� and it can give them the confidence to pursue [study] without feeling like it鈥檚 so sacrosanct.鈥�
In an effort to help kids do just that, writers Wayne Kirkpatrick, Karey Kirkpatrick and John O鈥橣arrell packed the show with references to his work. Nick Bottom, Portia, and Shylock are all names pulled from Shakespeare鈥檚 canon. Blickenstaff points out the name of her character, Bea, is a take on Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing. The script and score cite lines from Sonnet 18, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, and Richard III. 鈥淧eople鈥on鈥檛 actually understand how many references there are,鈥� says David Beach, who plays Brother Jeremiah. 鈥淭hey come back to see the show [again] to get more references.鈥�
鈥淚 think people will always enjoy [a] show a little more if they have some knowledge,鈥� says Hibbert. 鈥淚f they have a vague understanding of the story of Hamlet [or] the references to Romeo and Juliet, [our show] is like a more entertaining [version of] CliffNotes.鈥�
鈥淚 see tweets all the time from students鈥who are] sitting in class and actually recognizing things [within Shakespeare鈥檚 language] from Something Rotten!鈥� shares Borle. 鈥淚 think that kind of recognition factor engages them more in the actual study of it.鈥�
To that end, the show鈥檚 message, 鈥渢o thine own self be true,鈥� (plucked from Hamlet) earns a full song and dance. In presenting the text through music, the cast feels they can open a new door for these scholars, as well. 鈥淗opefully, [our show] has made the musical theatre nerds more into Shakespeare fans, and the Shakespeare fans more into musical theatre nerds,鈥� says Blickenstaff.
It鈥檚 not just Something Rotten! Several notable musicals are adaptations of his work, including The Boys from Syracuse (The Comedy of Errors), Kiss Me, Kate (The Taming of the Shrew), All Shook Up (Twelfth Night), and West Side Story, which , so as 鈥渢o show her how it鈥檚 an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.鈥�
Given that we鈥檙e still reading, watching, and musicalizing his life and work four hundred years after his death on April 23, 1616, maybe it鈥檚 a sign that we don鈥檛 鈥渉ate Shakespeare鈥� as much as we think. With our constant efforts to revitalize his work, we can eventually turn kids from viewing him as 鈥渟omething rotten鈥� to something revered.
