From WKU departments of Music and Theatre & Dance

The WKU Departments of Music and Theatre & Dance will hold performances for their musical “Something Rotten!” April 5-7 in the Van Meter Auditorium.

Audience members can come to witness a performance with over 70 cast, crew and faculty members. The fun comedy follows the journey of Nick and Nigel Bottom as they make desperate attempts to become successful playwrights and compete with the likes of William Shakespeare.

The students have been running five hour rehearsals on weekdays ever since the beginning of the 2024 spring semester.

WKU students Elijah Milburn, playing Nick Bottom, and Ashleigh Chapman, playing Portia are co-leads for the performances.

Milburn, a senior BFA performing arts and musical theatre major, noted that a musical with so many different contributors could never have been done without camaraderie. 

“All of the ensemble, [and] every cast member genuinely loves each other. We all have the goal, we all have the vision, we all have the drive to make the show amazing.” Milburn said, “I’m most proud of the people I’ve met and talked to, and I’m proud of the dedication we all share.”

David Young is the director of the musical and department chair of theatre & dance. To him, the performance will please a large span of audiences.

“If you love musicals you’ll love [this] because it references other musicals… If you don’t like musicals you’ll also love it because it makes fun of musicals in a very hilarious way,” Young said.

The April 5 and 6 showings will be this coming Friday and Saturday beginning at 7:30 p.m.. Sunday’s April 7th performance will take place at 2:00 p.m.. 

The performance is recommended for viewers ages 13 and up. Content contains some profanity and adult humor.

Adults can purchase tickets for $20 while students and seniors (aged 62 and over) can get in for $16. Tickets are available by visiting wku.showare.com or by calling (270) 745-3121.

News Reporter Larkin Ivory can be reached at [email protected].