In one of the funniest shows to grace Broadway since Book of Mormon, Something Rotten is stealing the Great White Way with its stellar cast, hilarious wit, and killer choreography. In a very meta move, the 10-time Tony-nominated musical is about the very first musical, set in Shakespearian times. The main trio from the cast — John Cariani, Brian d'Arcy James, and Christian Borle — stopped by BuzzFeed NY to play a game of Broadway Word Association. Here's what the guys had to say:
Tonys:
John Cariani: 10!
Christian Borle: Spins! It spins.
JC: [Points to colleagues] Nominated, nominated.
Brian d’Arcy James: It’s just a busy, wonderful time.
Shakespeare:
BDJ: Hack!
JC: Beautiful.
CB: Fraud!
JC: Human!
Omelets:
CB: Wildly-successful! That’s hyphenated.
BDJ: Taking the subway to your TV job — amazing!
JC: June 8.
BDJ: He’s plugging it.
CB: Great plug.
Bombshell:
BDJ: Megan Hilty! And Katharine McPhee!
All: (laughs)
Good save.
CB: But in that order!
BDJ: I can’t remember.
CB: Um, extravaganza!
JC: Smash.
CB: Way to bring it back around.
Shakespeare in the Park:
JC: Funny, funny, funny.
CB: Gloves, recently.
BDJ: Perfect.
CB: Ooh. God, yes. Ever the diplomat.
BDJ: She’s just perfect.
Alan Cumming:
JC: Scary in Cabaret, it was awesome. In a good way.
CB: Musty.
BDJ: Timeless. He’s never going to go away.
CB: Oh, that’s what timeless means!
BDJ: Oh, man. (laughs)
Acceptance speech:
JC: Scary, scary.
CB: Short.
BDJ: Unprepared.
Losing face:
BDJ: Here it is.
Codpiece:
CB: Stuffed.
BDJ: Underrated.
All: (laughs)
JC: Conversation piece.
Broadway Queen:
JC: We can say anybody?
Yeah.
CB: Broadway Queen is different from the Queen of Broadway, right?
BDJ: Your answer will determine what it is.
CB: Broadway Queen... Chita Rivera!
BDJ: Helen Mirren, literal and figurative.
JC: Kelli O’Hara.
CB: Doug Sills. Nononononono. (laughs)
Sondheim:
CB: Mythic.
BDJ: Standard-bearer.
JC: My first Broadway show.
Renaissance:
CB: What does that mean?
BDJ: Rebirth, I think.
CB: Boom!
BDJ: That was it for us.
Hamlet:
BDJ: Can’t decide. GET IT?
CB: Just blew my mind. That’s a good one.
JC: Psychology.
CB: I’ve got nothing.
Nostradamus:
CB: Showstopper.
BDJ: I’m thinking way too hard about this.
New York:
BDJ: Home.
CB: Diverse. That was a real serious one. Sometimes I just take it way down. You think it’s going to be something antic, but it is just full of truth.
JC: The greatest.
CB: Fragrant.
JC: Humid.
New Jersey:
BDJ: Tolls.
CB: I’m going to go with greenery.
JC: I was going to say farms.
CB: Nice optimistic, lovely takes on New Jersey. Some people talk about the smell; not us. Didn’t even bring it up.
All: (laughs)
Christian Borle’s arms:
CB: Jesus. I can’t believe we’re going there.
It’s an internet sensation.
CB: [Turns to colleagues] Careful.
JC: They’re fine.
CB: Great, that’s good.
BDJ: Limbs?
CB: Factual.
BDJ: That’s what they are!