“Something Rotten!”. The SFHS performing arts program puts on their first spring show in two years. They managed to pull off a wonderful performance despite the obstacles of COVID-19. (Used with permission from Julia Mackaben)
“Something Rotten!”. The SFHS performing arts program puts on their first spring show in two years. They managed to pull off a wonderful performance despite the obstacles of COVID-19.

Used with permission from Julia Mackaben

SFHS Smells “Something Rotten!” in the Performing Arts Center

March 19, 2021

Over the past two weekends at South Forsyth High School, the SFHS Performing Arts program put on a production of the 2015 Broadway musical “Something Rotten!”. The light-hearted comedy brought smiles and laughter into the Performing Arts Center all while the diligent cast and crew worked hard to navigate through their spring production amidst the global pandemic and CDC guidelines. 

Set in 1595, the Broadway musical “Something Rotten!” by Karey Kirkpatrick follows the story of the Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel, as they navigate the world of theatre and attempt to compete with their rival, William Shakespeare, to make the next big thing. A minstrel acts as the narrator and helps the audience follow along and understand the Bottom brothers’ schemes. After a soothsayer tells them that the future of theatre is musicals, the brothers embark on a journey to write the first musical while upbeat songs and tap dance numbers accompanied them.

  After the program’s overwhelming success during their winter production of “Oklahoma!” the performers of South rolled into their spring production only two months after their delayed winter show. However, the talented members managed to put together their comical take on the Broadway show “Something Rotten!” after not only having their winter show pushed back, but also having their 2020 spring production of “Sweeney Todd” canceled due to COVID-19. But fortunately, the show must go on; and thankfully, there were no delays or cancellations of the “Something Rotten!” production.

Senior Kailey Tufts, who was the Dance Captian of the production exclaimed, “It was a really different experience because we had to work around new obstacles such as social distancing and masks. It was also difficult as a Dance Captain because our choreographer couldn’t come in person, so we had to teach ourselves the choreography at home over videos.”

Additionally, the cast and crew made a few alterations to the show in order to abide by CDC guidelines. The most obvious example of this is that the performers wore masks throughout the entire show. This drastic change to performing made the cast rethink how to convey emotion with the obstacle of using only the top half of their faces. Nonetheless, the performers managed to display their joy, laughter, sadness–all through their body language. Furthermore, the show had plenty of on-stage romance between the characters Nick and Bea Bottom and Nigel and Portia. But due to social distancing and wearing masks, the Minstrel came out for every “kissing” scene and held out a sign that read: “They Kiss” to not only draw out laughter from the audience, but it was also an effective way of avoiding the more intimate scenes. Also, this year the production created a virtual Playbill for the show instead of having physical copies like previous shows. They had QR codes throughout the auditorium with not only the virtual Playbill, but also with a Powerpoint of all the cast and crew members.

My favorite part about ‘Something Rotten!’ was the tap section in the song ‘Make an Omelette’,” Junior Poom Punmaneeluk who played Robin enthused, “The choreography was very well done by our choreographer and our tap dancers were able to make very satisfying to watch and listen to.”

Despite the various challenges the theatre department has faced this year, they’ve managed to make “Something Rotten!” a phenomenal success. The production was not only enjoyable for audiences, but also for the cast and crew. The cast and crew all put so much effort into the show and it really showed. Click here to view pictures of the show!

About the Writers
Maggie Craig, Editor-In-Chief
Maggie Craig is currently a senior at SFHS and is super excited to be this year's Editor-in-Chief for The Bird Feed. If she isn’t writing stories, you will find her jamming out on her guitar or ukulele. She is a performer at heart and is a member of the voice company at RISPA. Maggie loves musicals such as Waitress and Miss Saigon. In her spare time, she binge-watches anime and plays on her Nintendo Switch. Never hesitate to approach her and say hello because she loves meeting new people. You can contact her through her email @[email protected] or through her Twitter @Smrcraig108.
Saahithya Gutta, Lifestyle & Features Editor, Social Media Lead
Saahithya Gutta is thrilled to return to The Bird Feed as a senior. This year, she is the arts & entertainment editor, features editor, and co-lead of social media. She hopes to grow the arts & entertainment page and expand the types of articles that the newspaper publishes. She has a deep fascination with astrology and hopes to bring that to the newspaper through an astrology column. In her free time, she loves learning about interior design and restoring old houses, making art, and learning new languages. She’s currently working on Italian. She is also still working on convincing her mother to let her eat an entire tub of ice cream. Saahithya wants to make the most of her senior year and she is optimistic that this year will be great. You can reach her through her Twitter, @Thya_G, or you can contact her at [email protected]

The Bird Feed • Copyright 2024 • FLEX WordPress Theme by SNOLog in