Rob McClure, Maggie Lakis, and Josh Grisetti Photo by Jeremy Daniel

Something Rotten! centers on brothers Nick (Rob McClure) and Nigel Bottom (Josh Grisetti), two writers who have been consistently overshadowed by William Shakespeare (Adam Pascal). By this time the Bard has become a superstar, and the Bottom brothers are struggling to come up with an idea for a play of their own. Nick consults with a soothsayer, Nostradamus's nephew Thomas (Blake Hammond), who looks into the future and says he sees that the next big thing for the stage—musicals! His vision leads to the marvelous song and dance number "A Musical." The scene lasts 10 minutes, with the cast tapping their tuchuses off. Another scene sees Shakespeare strutting around, giving a performance in a local park to his many fans (Nick proclaims, "Shakespeare in the park"!), who hold up candles in tribute.

Something Rotten! roasts South Pacific, The Phantom of the Opera, Avenue Q, The Music Man, Chicago, Annie, and Jesus Christ Superstar. The brothers get a Jewish backer named Shylock (Jeff Brooks) and decide on their first musical, based on "The Black Death," which does not work. They finally settle on Omelette, which includes phrases from Hamlet.

The music is lively and upbeat and the lyrics are clever. The beautiful gospel type song, "We See the Light," is sung with thematic resonance by Autumn Hurlbert as Portia. Adam Pascal with a powerful voice wows the audience as Shakespeare. The opening song "Welcome to the Renaissance" led by Nick Rashad Burroughs rocks.

The large cast give first-rate performances. Rob McClure as Nick and Josh Grisetti as Nigel give pitch perfect performances. Blake Hammond is a hoot as Thomas Nostradamus, as he looks into the future and shouts things like "Cats!," not knowing where they came from. Autumn Hurlbert, as Nigel's romance interest Portia, and Maggie Lakis as Bea, Nick's wife, are excellent and they give the delightful vocal performances of the night. Adam Pascal rocks as the egocentric Will Shakespeare. Jeff Brooks as Shylock, who is thrilled to hear that Shakespeare might put him into one of his plays, gives a splendid performance. Scott Cote gives an outstanding performance as moralist Brother Jeremiah. He unknowingly spouts out double entendres, one after the other.

Something Rotten! runs through September 10, 2017, at the Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market Street, San Francisco. For tickets, visit www.shnsf.com or call 888-746-1799. Coming next An American In Paris running from September 12 through October 8 at the Orpheum Theatre.