By BRUCE DENNILL
John Marshall recently starred as Nick Bottom in the Waterfront Theatre School‘s production of Something Rotten! – the show’s South African premiere. Something Rotten! is a gloriously cheeky, tap-dancing, jazz-handed love letter to theatre that gleefully asks one important question: what happens when the Bard’s competition gets desperate enough to invent the musical? The answer, as it turns out, is chaos, spectacle, and a lot of rhyming couplets. It’s bold, brash, knowingly silly, and packed with show-stopping numbers. In short: if you’ve ever loved musicals, Something Rotten! roasts them, toasts them, and serves them up with a flourish of jazz hands. Written by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell with music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, Something Rotten! was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
In the lead-up to a new production, how do you prepare:
I start my preparation for a show like Something Rotten! by first immersing myself in the text and its context. I try to discover as much information as I can from the musical itself. Through this process, I also try to identify as much information as possible about my character. This prepares me emotionally and mentally for the role, allowing me to justify the choices and actions my character makes throughout the musical. I think every production has a different approach to preparation, so for this production specifically, I had to align my focus with a different style of theatre than what I’m used to. Something Rotten! is a spectacle, and it requires an immense amount of energy from its performers, which I found was something I had to ready myself for. I also found that I had to really spruce up my tap-dancing skills, which has been a lovely challenge.
What is the single most influential performance you’ve ever seen – the one that made you feel: “This is what I want to do with my life!”?
Growing up, I didn’t have much exposure to musical theatre, and it wasn’t really something I knew much about. But I can vividly remember being about 15 years old at choir camp when I stumbled across the pro-shot of the original Broadway production of Into The Woods. I was completely blown away. Watching performers like Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason and Tom Aldredge, I realised, this is what I want to do with my life. There was just something about that musical and the way Sondheim wrote it, that completely catapulted me into a life of theatre. The opportunity to portray the life of a character and then share that experience with an audience is something I still find incredibly thrilling.
What is your favourite aspect of the industry – be it specific people, parts of the production process, particular venues/locations or something else? And what is an aspect of the industry that you feel could be improved (even if that’s only an idealistic wish)?
My favourite part of the industry is definitely the rehearsal room. I love the process of building the world of a musical from the ground up and collaborating with so many talented people to bring it to life. There’s something incredibly fulfilling about watching a show evolve day by day. I also think it’s where you learn the most. Working alongside fellow performers, directors, choreographers and the creative team teaches you things that simply can’t be learnt in a classroom. Every rehearsal is an opportunity to grow as both a performer and a collaborator. And, of course, it’s just so much fun. There’s nothing quite like being in a room full of creatives bouncing ideas off one another. The energy, the laughter, and the inevitable rehearsal room banter make it one of my favourite places to be.
What has been your scariest onstage/on set moment so far (anything from forgetting words or cues to accidents or other unforeseen events)?
My scariest onstage moment happened during Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. I was in the middle of one of my solo songs, completely alone onstage, and it was building to the big climax. I went for the opt up and nothing came out. So, in that split second I thought, I’ll just try it again. And on my second attempt I let out the strangest sound I’ve ever made in my life. I’ve never felt so self-conscious before, ever! At the time it felt absolutely catastrophic, but looking back, it was a valuable lesson to just take things as they come. Live theatre is so unpredictable, and sometimes things just don’t go to plan. You have to keep going, trust yourself, and not dwell on the mistake. There are far bigger things to worry about in life.
Tell us about Something Rotten! and what made your character interesting to play?
Something Rotten! is a hilarious musical comedy set in the 1590s that follows two struggling playwright brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom, as they desperately try to write the next great hit. Unfortunately, they’re living in the shadow of the incredibly successful William Shakespeare. In a desperate attempt to outsmart Shakespeare, Nick consults with Nostradamus, a soothsayer who predicts that the future of theatre is musicals. The brothers then set out to create the world’s very first musical. What makes Nick such a fun character to play is his determination to outsmart Shakespeare by any means possible. He’s incredibly stubborn, yet also hardworking, and it’s been both challenging and rewarding to have the opportunity to bring this character to life.