Riverview students set to perform 'Something Rotten!'

Ever wondered what it’d be like to live at the same time as Shakespeare? What about being a writer trying to compete with the literary great?

More than 90 Riverview students help answer those questions during this year’s school musical, “Something Rotten!”

The story follows brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom, who are desperate to write a hit play but struggle to find a hit while competing with the ever popular Shakespeare.

In a last-ditch effort to find success, the brothers listen to a local soothsayer, Thomas Nostradamus, when he foretells a future of singing, dancing and acting at the same time.

Thus begins a comedy about the tale of the first musical.

Johnpaul Bertucci, of Oakmont, has been directing the district’s musicals for the past 25 years and said that each year, the goal of the show is to make the audience “forget they’re at a high school production.”

There are a few factors he focuses on when trying to achieve this feat. The first is teaching the students how to fall into their characters.

“It’s not only important to know your lines and sing and learn your movement, blocking or dance,” Bertucci said, “but to be able to use your eyes, your face and the tone of the words and body language to draw an audience member into what that character is feeling. You can stop time and take their breath away.”

He said letting the audience have a glimpse at the soul of a character is what separates Riverview from being just another high school musical.

The show includes seventh through 12th grade students making up the cast and crew. Auditions were held in September, and the students have been working on the show since.

The students will stage five performances, including three evening and two matinee shows, March 20-23 at the Tenth Street Elementary’s auditorium in Oakmont.

Bertucci’s son, Johnny, will be returning for his sixth and final show, as Shakespeare, the English Renaissance rockstar.

“I’m really happy with the team we have and the actors we have,” he said.

He said the most challenging part of his role is learning how to master different British accents. At one point, his character must go undercover and the secondary character’s accent is more of a Cockney accent commonly found in London’s East End.

“I have to switch on and off a lot, and I guess that was a bit of a challenge,” Johnny said.

He said actor Christian Borle’s performance as Shakespeare in the Broadway performance of “Something Rotten!” served as a huge inspiration for how he wants to play the character.

Senior Quinlan Catanzaro is returning for his third year in the program as Nick Bottom.

Catanzaro said watching the Broadway version of the show on YouTube helped give him confidence to master his character.

“I was trying to mimic (his part) but still put my own twist on the character,” he said.

During the process, both boys learned to tap dance for three larger numbers in the show taught by co-choreographers Jamie Lydick and Julie Beck.

Siddaly Sykes was able to discover her acting skills during the production. Despite this being her fifth year in the program, the junior has always felt more comfortable as a dancer.

“For the past four years, I’ve mainly done dance,” she said. “This is my first role I’ve ever had with lines.”

Sykes will be playing a lead character, Portia, Nigel Bottom’s love interest. She said being able to experience the process has built her confidence as a performer.

“It’s been interesting to focus more on building a character rather than learning a dance,” she said.

Lead cast members are Johnny Bertucci; Catanzaro; Sykes; sophomore Oden Rebarchak, as Nigel Bottom; junior Maggie Steimer, as Nick’s wife, Bea Bottom; senior Simon Meals, as Brother Jeremiah; and senior Noah Prosky, as Thomas Nostradamus.

The show is listed as PG-13 for some mature humor. Bertucci said the show is more modern, premiering on Broadway in 2015, and more recent musicals usually feature current themes, issues and adult humor.