The cleverness of “Something Rotten” is lost in play’s breakneck pace

“‘Something Rotten!’ makes merry at the Buell,” Oct. 19 theater review.

I beg to differ with Lisa Kennedy’s review of “Something Rotten!” Yes, it is exceedingly clever and often very funny. At the same time, it goes from 0 to 60 in the first 30 seconds and never slows down. You have to give an audience a chance to breathe, not to mention pause for a moment to enjoy the hundreds (literally) of satirical references. By the end of the evening I was exhausted as well as frustrated, being certain I’d missed a great deal of the cleverness while the play flew by at a breakneck pace. There is also a dulling “sameness” to the wildly clever musical numbers. They are all fast, full volume, high energy and tapped out on tap dancing. A little contrast, change in pacing and volume wouldn’t hurt at all. A quiet moment or two and some attention to variety in making transitions perhaps?