Something Rotten

EXPECTED 6/16

Wes Anderson’s eccentric filmmaking style takes a supernatural turn in AsteroidCity. The director of TheGrandBudapest Hotel and The French Dispatch is well-known for his symmetrical shots, vibrant color schemes, and absurdist storytelling. Following the catastrophic events of a stargazing convention gone wrong, Anderson balances his signature genres of comedy, romance, and drama. Featuring an ensemble cast including Tilda Swinton, Scarlett Johansson, and Maya Hawke, this movie will be the newest addition to Anderson’s repertoire of timeless and immaculate films.

SPEAK NOW (TAYLOR'S VERSION) BY

TAYLOR SWIFT

As the purple curtains of the Kathleen L. Stoney performing arts stage pulled away, bright yellow lights flashed upon the Tudor-themed town and the cast of 27 high schoolers performing Something Rotten. With pointy boots, a Tudor-themed set, and puffy pants galore, the cast extolled the virtues of 1590s England during the first number, “Welcome to the Renaissance.” “Welcome to the Renaissance, where we ooh and aah you with ambiance, ” The cast sang. “We're so progressive, the latest and the greatest, we bring it to you with much ado!”

“It was the first Nueva musical production I watched, ” Athena C. ’26 recalled. “I was really impressed with the choreography and singing.”

Performed from May 12-14, Something Rotten is a musical detailing the Bottom brothers—Nick and Nigel—and their struggle to find prominence in the world of theatre and compete with Shakespeare at the top of the theatre world during the English Renaissance. Humor through dramatic irony, references to other musicals, jokes with double meanings, and most notably the involvement of eggs and an omelettes in a song highlight the importance of jokes during the musical.

To execute these jokes, delivery, and costume changes were important aspects the cast decided to focus on and executed. The cast prepared

EXPECTED 7/7

Released in 2010, Speak Now is Taylor Swift’s third studio album, with themes around heartbreak, rising stardom, and the transition to adulthood. Swift has gained monumental popularity in the music industry in the past 13 years, and announced a rerecording of this album, due to a conflict regarding the ownership, during a 2023 Nashville show. Swift brings a newfound maturity to her re-recorded albums, as well as tracks never heard before “from the vault” (songs which didn’t make it onto the original album); Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) will be an even more heartwrenching version of the original album.

The Wind Knows My Name By Isabel Allende

EXPECTED 6/6 hundreds of costume changes during the show and executed each to perfection. Out of all of the changes, one of the most iconic was a change from an omelettes into an egg in the song “Make an Omelette.”

Chilean writer Isabel Allende intertwines the stories of children in 1938 Europe and 2019 El Salvador in her new novel, The Wind Knows My Name (translated by Frances Riddle). Focused concurrently on a Jewish family’s escape from Nazioccupied Austria and the immigration policies in the United States, The Wind Knows My Name centers around family, home, sacrifice, and serves as an ode to dreamers worldwide. This work crosses symbolic boundaries and instills hope in readers regardless of background.

“Because Something Rotten is a really fastpaced show, there is really no break in-between,” said Hazel D. '23, for whom Something Rotten is their eighth and final show. “We had to work on trying to stay in the story, maintain energy, and comedic timing.”

Throughout the hours of rehearsal and production, the cast became closer. With trips to Burger King off of 28th Avenue and massive games of Cards Against Humanity, Drew and director Zoe Swenson-Graham enjoyed seeing new relationships with the cast and crew.

“We were so close with each other and spent so much time carpooling and so much time sharing each other’s sweat, so you kind of get to know these people very well,” Hazel said. “I don’t want to say the best part was the ‘friends we made along the way’, but it kind of was.”

“I’ve never met a kinder, more hardworking group of students,” Swenson-Graham said. “They are each other’s biggest cheerleaders–the most important part of the experience is building community.”