Newtown Middle School’s production of Something Rotten! Jr is set to open Friday, April 24. Performances will be staged in the auditorium of Newtown High School (NHS), 12 Berkshire Road, with evening performances at 7 pm Friday and Saturday, April 24 and 25, and matinee performances at 2 pm April 25 and 26.

Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for Newtown Public Schools employees, and are available for purchase online at newtownms.booktix.com.

Adapted from the smash Broadway hit, Something Rotten! Jr takes audiences back to the Renaissance for an hour of musical comedy gold. In the 1590s, brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rock star known as "The Bard." When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing, and acting at the same time, Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first musical. But amidst the scandalous excitement of opening night, the Bottom Brothers realize that reaching the top means being true to thine own self, and all that jazz.

Something Rotten! Jr features large song and dance numbers, and a wacky cast of over-the-top characters, each with their own moment to shine.

The show is co-directed by NHS teacher Janice Gabriel and dance educator Jen Turey, with this marking their fourth year co-directing NMS Drama's annual spring production. Each of them is handling a different aspect of Something Rotten! Jr: Turey handles the choreography, while Gabriel manages set building, lighting, sound, and other technical components. Others helping out with the show are Bethany Cruson as producer and Vincent Fontenelli as the musical director.

Gabriel said she and Turey talked about doing Something Rotten! Jr last year, but switched it last minute to Beetlejuice Jr.

"And then this year we both wanted different shows," Gabriel explained. "So we went, 'Should we go just back to our original idea?'"

Gabriel said Something Rotten! Jr is a great show, adding that it is a natural fit for their students. She also said it is educational, with it being set during the Renaissance and focusing on Shakespeare, and that it even pays homage to iconic Broadway shows.

"As we've been going through this, we've been able to educate [the students] and say, 'Okay, that's from Annie,' or , 'That's from Les Misérables.' So it's been really fun for them," Gabriel explained.

She called herself and Turey lovers of musicals and said that they saw Something Rotten! separately when it came out on Broadway in 2015. They both loved it and felt it was one of the most original shows on Broadway "in so long."

Gabriel added, "It wasn't a revival. It wasn't taking a movie and turning it into the show. It was something completely original with just so many fun nods to other shows, which is pretty cool."

Overcoming Challenges

Auditions for NMS' production were held between late November to early December, with rehearsals starting in January. Rehearsals, Gabriel said, did not start as an everyday thing; they practiced "here and there" and, as time went on, spent more time on the show.

Gabriel said they tried to break rehearsals up into parts. Students would do choreography with Turey one day, music with Fontenelli on another day, and staging with Gabriel the day after that.

While this process was a first for them, Gabriel said the kids have been really great. She called this year's group of kids incredibly talented and very dedicated, as they try to have everything right, from blocking to learning the music.

This has rung true particularly throughout the rehearsal process. Gabriel said they originally started rehearsals in the middle school's auditorium or gym before eventually moving to the high school's auditorium, after NHS Drama finished its spring production of Mamma Mia!

It was a somewhat challenging adjustment for students, according to Gabriel.

"They had to change the spacing because [the high school's stage] is almost double the size of the middle school stage ... So at least now they can figure out where they're going, where they should be standing, and if things looks good throughout the next week," Gabriel told The Newtown Bee on April 6.

Nailing rehearsals early was important since Newtown schools were out the week of April 13 for spring break.

"We're losing [the students] the week before their show," Gabriel said. "So that's why we've had really long rehearsals early [this month], because we lose our tech weekend and then we lose the whole week before the show. Then we come back from spring break, have Monday through Thursday, and then we open."

Either way, Gabriel said moving the shows to NHS was a good call. Performing shows at the middle school meant they not only had to rent sound and lighting equipment, but they also had to deal with the lack of air conditioning.

The high school also has a larger auditorium, which means more people can attend the show. This was another problem that came with performing at the middle school, as Gabriel said they would sell out and sometimes have to turn people away since there were no more seats left.

For The Love Of Theater

Even though rehearsals proved to be a battle for time, Gabriel said she is extremely proud of the work students have put into Something Rotten! Jr.

Her favorite part, she said, is seeing this age group start coming into their own as actors. Even for students who may be doing the show "just because," Gabriel said watching them figure out that theater is cool and a great way to express themselves and make friends is really special.

"Seeing them start to figure out how to do things better ... who they want to be on stage and who they want to be as an actor," Gabriel said. "It's exciting."

Cruson, who handles paperwork for the show and acts as an extra adult for rehearsals, said seeing students grow has been really cool to see. She called this group of students fun to work with.

"You can have a lot more fun when you have kids that care and are engaged with the material," Cruson said. "They've been pretty invested."

Regarding Something Rotten! itself, Cruson said even if the public might not know the show very well, they actually know it better than they think they do.

She added, "There's so many references and it's so irreverently funny. It's one of those shows that, if you've never seen it before, you definitely should come and see it."

Turey said there are certain expectations when it comes choreographing popular musicals like Something Rotten!. She added that it is a matter of balancing those expectations between what they can actually do.

"Choreographing for this show is super fun because there's so many references to all the musicals, and it's so fun to find those moments and try to figure out how to highlight it to the audience so they can recognize it, too," Turey said.

She said they also incorporated tap dance into the show as a nod to the Broadway production of the show. Turey added that she was really proud of those who have not put on a pair of tap shoes but decided to try something new and not be afraid of challenging themselves.

Seeing the choreography come to life on the high school stage has also been fun, according to Turey.

"There's no wing space at the middle school, so now they can really hide in the wings so they can figure out exactly how many steps it takes to get on," Turey said.

Beyond choreography, Turey said she is proud to see her daughter in the show, adding that it has been really nice having that experience with her.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.