Show guide
Something Rotten!
Something Rotten! is a comedy about two struggling playwright brothers in 1590s London who try to out-write their rival, William Shakespeare, by inventing the musical.
- Broadway premiere
- 2015
- Music by
- Kirkpatrick Brothers
- Genre
- Comedy
- Setting
- 1590s
Something Rotten!: quick answers
What is Something Rotten! about?
- In 1595 London, struggling playwright brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom, desperate to beat William Shakespeare, learn from a soothsayer that the future of theatre is the musical and try to write the first one.
When did Something Rotten! open on Broadway?
- Something Rotten! opened on Broadway on April 22, 2015, at the St. James Theatre. It closed on January 1, 2017.
What kind of musical is Something Rotten!?
- Something Rotten! is an original musical comedy with songs by Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick. It spoofs Shakespeare and sends up famous musicals from The Lion King to The Phantom of the Opera.
Where and when is Something Rotten! set?
- Something Rotten! is set in London in 1595, during the Renaissance and Shakespeare's heyday.
Has Something Rotten! played in London's West End?
- Something Rotten! has not had a full West End run, but a concert staging played the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on August 5 and 6, 2024.
The story of Something Rotten!
Set in Renaissance England, Something Rotten! follows Nick Bottom and his younger brother Nigel, playwrights who cannot compete with the celebrity of William Shakespeare. Desperate for a hit, Nick visits a soothsayer named Nostradamus, who has a vision of theater's future: singing, dancing, and people bursting into song in the middle of a scene, in other words, the musical.
Nick tries to write the world's first musical before anyone else can, while Nigel falls for Portia, a Puritan minister's daughter, and Nick's wife Bea pushes against the limits placed on women of the era. The show is ultimately a loving, anachronistic spoof of both Shakespeare and the entire Broadway musical tradition.
The music and the makers
The score was written by the Kirkpatrick brothers, Wayne Kirkpatrick composing the music with Karey Kirkpatrick as co-lyricist, while Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell wrote the book together. The songs deliberately quote and parody familiar Broadway conventions, tap numbers, power ballads, chorus lines, while telling an entirely original story.
The show's best-known number, A Musical, is a rapid-fire pastiche that name-checks dozens of famous shows in a single sequence, and it sets the tone for a score built on theater-nerd jokes layered over genuinely catchy, old-fashioned Broadway melodies.
Something Rotten! on Broadway
Something Rotten! opened on Broadway in 2015 at the St. James Theatre, starring Brian d'Arcy James as Nick Bottom, John Cariani as Nigel Bottom, and Christian Borle as William Shakespeare. Borle won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his scene-stealing, rock-star take on Shakespeare.
The production ran for roughly two years before closing in 2017. It earned ten Tony nominations in total and has become a favorite for regional and community theaters since, thanks to its broad comedy and its affectionate send-up of musical theater history.
Something Rotten!: frequently asked questions
When was Something Rotten! written?
Brothers Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick had the idea for Something Rotten! in the 1990s, and Wayne has said it took about 15 years before they got serious about writing it. Teaming with John O'Farrell, they presented songs and a treatment to producer Kevin McCollum in 2010, and the show opened on Broadway on April 22, 2015.
Is Something Rotten! based on a true story?
No. Something Rotten! is an original comedy, not adapted from an existing play, film, or true event. William Shakespeare appears as a fictionalized comic character, but the plot and its central Bottom brothers are invented.
Did Something Rotten! win the Tony Award for Best Musical?
No, Something Rotten! lost Best Musical to Fun Home at the 2015 Tony Awards despite earning ten nominations. Christian Borle won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for playing Shakespeare.
When did Something Rotten! open on Broadway?
Something Rotten! opened on Broadway in 2015 at the St. James Theatre.
Who composed Something Rotten!?
The score was written by the Kirkpatrick brothers, Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick.
What is Something Rotten! about?
It follows two playwright brothers in 1590s London who try to invent the musical to compete with William Shakespeare.
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