Something Rotten! is a musical comedy with a book by John O’Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick and music and lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick. Set in 1595, the story follows the Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel, who struggle to find success in the theatrical world as they compete with the wild popularity of their contemporary William Shakespeare.
Something Rotten! opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on April 22, 2015, where it played for 708 performances. It was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and won one for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Christian Borle). Tours and international productions have followed.
The musical began with an idea that brothers Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick had had since the 1990s. They finally joined with John O’Farrell to write several songs and presented those songs and a treatment to the producer Kevin McCollum in 2010. The team then joined with Casey Nicholaw, who brought in several of the actors, resulting in the workshop in 2014.
Something Rotten! was expected to have a pre-Broadway tryout at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle, Washington, in April 2015. However, when a Broadway theatre became available, Kevin McCollum decided to open the show without the Seattle tryout. “David Armstrong, artistic director of 5th Avenue Theater, said … that after the positive buzz surrounding the musical’s workshop in October [2014], he and Mr. McCollum began discussing the possibility of the show bypassing Seattle in favour of Broadway.” The developmental lab took place in New York City in October 2014 with Casey Nicholaw as director and choreographer. A concert staging played at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London’s West End on August 5 and 6, 2024. Jason Manford starred opposite Richard Fleeshman, Gary Wilmot, Evelyn Hoskins and Marisha Wallace. It was directed by Tim Jackson.
The show includes references to numerous musicals. For example, during the song “A Musical”, “Nostradamus and the chorus men don sailor hats, which harkens to several nautical-themed musicals, including South Pacific, Anything Goes, On the Town and Dames at Sea.” The TheaterMania reviewer noted that the song “A Musical” “encapsulates the entire book-musical form in six hilarious minutes. It’s so chock-full of witty references and energetic dance; it’s hard to see how it could be topped.” Variety also pointed out that the song “A Musical” “simultaneously celebrates and sends up everything we hold dear about this peculiar art form, from the ‘jazzy hands’ of Bob Fosse to the synchronised line dancing of the Rockettes.”
