YOUNGSTOWN — After going all out with its production of “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” to open its centennial season in August, Youngstown Playhouse certainly didn’t decide to scale back for the follow up.

The comedy-packed, crowd-pleasing musical “Something Rotten” opened Friday with a cast of about 40 performers filling the Playhouse stage. The set might not have been as flashy as the one that lit up Powers Auditorium for “Beautiful,” but it served the production well, and costumers Jenny Long and Amy Burd must have hit triple figures with fulfilling the number of changes the show required.

The Karey Kirkpatrick / Wayne Kirkpatrick / John O’Farrell creation spoofs musical theater, imagining two struggling playwrights during the Renaissance trying to emerge from William Shakespeare’s shadow by creating — with the help of a soothsayer who is able to conjure up not quite 100% accurate glimpses of the future — the musical.

There was no shortage of laughter on opening night, but the production works as well as it does by embracing the tropes of musical theater.

Director Emma Wason doesn’t shy away from big dance numbers. The cast include troupes of young and adult dancers, and Abbie Stewart’s choreography leans into tap dancing and kick lines, and those numbers drive and energize the production.

Community theater productions with big casts filled with performers with limited dance ability often feature what I call traffic cop choreography — it’s just moving a collection of bodies from one place to another as gracefully as possible. That wasn’t the case here. The dance added to the enjoyment of the show and even contributed to comedy at times.

The cast is filled with quality voices and not just in the principal roles. Ethan Hess as the minstrel opens both acts with his pure, pitch-perfect vocals on “Welcome to the Renaissance.”

Al McKinnon as Nick Bottom, the older brother of the writing duo, sets the comedic tone early on with the song “God, I Hate Shakespeare.” McKinnon’s enunciation on the rapid-fire lyrics allows the audience to hear every one-liner embedded in the song. Zavier Rubante brings a passion and nervous energy to the role of younger brother Nigel Bottom that nicely contrasts with the stressed cynicism of McKinnon’s Nick

Perhaps the two best performances in the cast belong to Rachel Franek as Nick’s wife, Bea, and Tyler Stouffer as soothsayer Thomas Nostradamus, nephew of the more famous Nostradamus.

Franek has a beautiful voice on “Right Hand Man” while also singing the song very much in character. “Something Rotten” makes plenty of jokes about the unnaturalness of characters breaking into song. Franek seamlessly integrates her vocals into her portrayal of the loyal, supportive wife.

Stouffer has a great musical theater voice and is just as accomplished as a physical comedian. His expressions and body language as Nostradamus conjures up mangled images of the future got some of the show’s biggest laughs. Stouffer does double duty as music director and has the vocalists working well both individually and as an ensemble.

“Something Rotten” certainly rewards those with an encyclopedic knowledge of William Shakespears and musical theater, but one doesn’t have to be an English major or a theater nerd to get most of the references.

Many of the shows spoofed in “Something Rotten” have been performed at the Playhouse over the years. Wason said in the preview story that those connections made it a good choice for the 100th anniversary season, and Wason’s direction makes it a worthy addition to the Youngstown theater’s canon.

WHAT: “Something Rotten”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday through Sept. 29

WHERE: Youngstown Playhouse, 600 Playhouse Lane, Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Tickets range from $17 to $27 and are available online at experienceyourarts.org and by calling 330-788-8739.