Something rotten lingers in the air of Marriotts Ridge as the school closes its successful spring musical. The sounds of tap shoes and lyrics involving eggs and fiery hatred for the famous playwright Shakespeare still linger in the seats of the school auditorium.
The musical, Something Rotten takes place in the 16th century and follows the Bottom brothers as they struggle and fail to make it in the playwriting business and pale in comparison to William Shakespeare. MRHS’ rendition of Something Rotten featured a massive hand-painted set, hand-sewn period costumes, seven major dance numbers, some of which include tape and a live pit.
Theatre teacher Mrs. Greffen chose the show Something Rotten for this year’s spring production back in June of 2024. Although it took much time and consideration, she saw that the musical had traits that made it perfect for the students of MRHS.
“There are a lot of things I think make [Something Rotten] great for our cast. One, I wanted to do a big ensemble with lots of people getting to do lots of different things. Two, this show is a comedy and I wanted to challenge us,” Greffen said.
Leading up to the show, students put hours of hard work into the production during rehearsals that began in October. This show was the first theatre production that several students among the 50+ cast had participated in. Despite the stereotypes and assumptions that those students made before trying theatre out, they found that they weren’t fully correct.
“This is the first show I’ve been in. It [the production process] has been very fun. There was a lot more that went into it than I expected. From the outside, it seems very basic, but there is a lot more rehearsal time than you would think,” sophomore Sam Keiner shared.
Tap dancing was a huge featured component in the show and was a new skill most of the cast had to learn. With the rhythm of the live pit and the synchronized pattering of tap shoes on the stage, it was almost impossible for the audience to not be impressed. Towards the end of Act I, senior Max Ryon, playing Nick Bottom, and junior Ezra Ijiyemi, playing William Shakespeare, engaged in a tap battle, which involved precise timing and an excellent sense of rhythm. The battle was quite the audience pleaser as roars of laughs and applause boomed in the auditorium.
“When I first started theatre in my freshman year, I found that dancing for me was quite difficult, so when tap was first introduced to me during Something Rotten rehearsals, I thought it was pretty challenging. With the help of the choreographer and my friends though, I improved a lot and learned to enjoy it, which had a great turnout as the audience responded well to my tap battle with Nick Bottom,” junior Ezra Ijiyemi explained.
As the musical concluded, cast and crew gave their opinions on how the show went, with some saying their goodbyes to the final musical of the year. The Saturday evening show was a bittersweet night for many of the seniors, especially for those who are planning to go into theatre after graduation.
“[The show] was very hard to put together considering it was my last show, but I had a lot of fun and I’m so grateful I got to experience it with my friends,” senior Madison Gaither claims.
It wasn’t only cast members that were able to experience the magical atmosphere of the theatre community.
“I was in stage crew with Allison and Mel and I had a really good time being able to work backstage. I love music and being with friends, so being in tech was almost a no-brainer for me,” senior Tomiwa Fasosin explained.
As the night faded, many of the cast and crew took the traditional trip to E.C. Diner after the final show, as the sound of laughter filled the air with the tainted scent of eggs in the background. Students had pleased smiles on their faces as Something Rotten added to the legacy of the MRHS theatre department.