MUKILTEO—The Kamiak High School Theatre Department will be performing “Something Rotten!” based on the book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John Farrell. The production, directed by Bryan Sullivan, will be performed at the Mountlake Terrace High School Theatre located at 21801 44th Avenue W in Mountlake Terrace.
“Something Rotten! is such a fun and hilarious show. There’s something in it for almost everyone. It’s full of references to Shakespeare’s plays and British history while still being a romp through the 1590s,” said Bryan Sullivan, Theater Director at Kamiak High School.
Sullivan told the Lynnwood Times the decision to perform Something Rotten stemmed from it being unique to anything Kamiak Drama had done in the past, its story being bound to hold both student and audience interest, and its modernity – both in its humor and being recently performed on Broadway in 2017.
“While we love our golden age musicals, we have a lot of fun doing modern shows,” said Sullivan. “It’s fresh, the humor is irreverent, and we’ve had a good time working on it.”
Kamiak’s upcoming production of Something Rotten has a large student cast of 45 actors, 50 crew members, and more than 20 musicians in the orchestra.
Some key roles include Paul Abwao, playing Nick Bottom, Nathan Reed, playing Nigel Bottom, Maya Morrison, playing Bea, Mikayla Caro, playing Portia, Parish Martin, playing Brother Jeremiah, and Calvin Stephens, playing Nostradamus.
The cast is a mixture of students from first time thespians to others returning for their fourth Kamiak musical.
“We have a long tradition of returning students taking new students under their wings to help insure they are successful in the production,” said Sullivan.
Something Rotten will be performed at Mountlake Terrace High School as the Kamiak Performing Arts Center is still under construction. Bond work passed in 2019 is finally being completed but Kamiak’s performing arts programs have had to borrow space from neighboring schools in the meantime.
However, the entire stage (set pieces, costumes, props) has still all been constructed at Kamiak and will need to be transferred over to Mountlake Terrace High School.
Sullivan informed the Lynnwood Times Kamiak faculty and students will have just one day to put the set together, program lights, hook up the sound system, take over the dressing rooms, and so on before hitting the stage for a full dress rehearsal.
“It’s going to be a whirlwind, but I know it will come together to be a really great design, and production,” said Sullivan. “The design elements combine 1590’s Elizabethan England with some of the glitz and glamour of Broadway.”
Auditions for Something Rotten took place the week before students went on winter break, with rehearsals and set building beginning in February and music and choreography added later.
This month, leading up to the opening night on May 2, the cast began running big parts of the show, adding in the student orchestra before finally running dress rehearsals with all components put together.
These dress rehearsals take place for two hours, five days a week, though as the cast gets closer to performance rehearsals will get longer (three hours, then eventually four hours) to hammer in all the details. All in all, the cast will have spent approximately 160 hours in rehearsal over the course of three months, which doesn’t include the countless hours students spent on their own rehearsing their lines, songs, and dances.
In addition to Sullivan as Director, Nancy Duck-Jefferson, Kamiak Choir Director and Musical Director in the performance, is taking care of the musical side of things while Eva Stone is handling the choreography, ensuring every students – regardless of experience – get to dance and look good doing it on stage.
Brian Steves, Kamiak Orchestra Teacher, is the production’s Orchestra Director encompassing a team of incredible student musicians who will be performing all of the music live.
“Something Rotten! is such a fun show! It is roll on the floor, laugh out loud funny. The music is catchy. The dancing and acting are spectacular. Seeing this show is a fantastic way to spend an evening. One warning, this play may not be appropriate for all ages,” said Sullivan.
Something Rotten will be Kamiak High School’s final large theater production of the school year. When they return from summer break the Drama Department is looking forward to getting acquainted with its newly renovated Performing Arts Center and put on some amazing shows next school year.
Sullivan urges anyone who is interested in keeping up to date with Kamiak’s Drama productions to frequent kamiakarts.org. where all upcoming productions will be announced.
About the show
Welcome to the Renaissance and the outrageous, crowd-pleasing musical farce, Something Rotten. Set in the 1590s, brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rock star known as “The Bard.” When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing and acting at the same time, Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first musical. But amidst the scandalous excitement of opening night, the Bottom Brothers realize that reaching the top means being true to thine own self, and all that jazz.
Something Rotten features large song and dance numbers, and a wacky cast of over-the-top characters, each with their own moment to shine. Throughout its Broadway run, the musical received a show-stopping standing ovation from audiences… in the beginning of the first act! It’s become clear that “nothing’s as amazing as a musical,” so don’t miss your chance to see this history-twisting tale.
Tickets and Show Times
Friday, May 2nd 7:00 PP, Saturday, May 3rd 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM, and Sunday, May 4th 2:00 PM
$20.00 Adults and $15.00 Students & Seniors
All Seats are General Admission
Tickets are sold online and at the door (unless sold out)
Tickets are required for entry.
All Sales Final. No ticket refunds or exchanges.
Accessible spaces are very limited. Please call 425-366-5428 to check on availability before purchasing.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
