There is a rumour that `Something Rotten!’ the new, multiple Tony Award nominated, spoof Shakespeare musical is coming to the West End in 2016. The show has a top team behind it being directed by Casey Nicholaw (Book of Mormon), with a book co-written by John O’Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick and is produced by Kevin McCollum (Avenue Q and Rent).
It is the story of two brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom who are more than a little fed up with the celebrity of the day in 16th Century Elizabethan London, a certain Mr William Shakespeare, who gets all the fame, fortune and the girls. Deciding to do something about it, Nick consults a soothsayer, asking him to predict what Shakespeare’s next hit play will be. The soothsayer says The Tragedy of Omelette (or should that be Hamlet?), before looking further and seeing `Cats’ and singing nuns too (Sound of Music or Sister Act?). The brothers take this strange mixed up vision of the future and try to outdo the Bard by writing the world’s very first musical.
Broadway reviewers have compared `Something Rotten!’ to `Spamalot’ created by Monty Python’s Eric Idle with loads of laughs. It is not so close to the bone as the Casey Nicklow directed Book of Mormon so will not upset the easily offended. From opening number, `Welcome to the Renaissance’ to the one all GCSE school children will relate to, `I Hate Shakespeare’, a Something Rotten! theatre break will have you singing these catchy tunes all the way back to your hotel. Expect to get Shakespearean references aplenty and a climactic number that packs in references to just about every musical hit from the past 50 years.
Reviews for Something Rotten! theatre breaks in New York:
"Fresh, irreverent and hysterical! Easily the funniest thing to arrive on Broadway since The Book of Mormon!" –AP
"Yep, this is a Blockbuster! A deliriously entertaining new musical comedy that brings down the house!" –New York Post
"Ingenious, Outrageous and Irresistable!" – Variety
"Riotous! Resistance is futile!" – Hollywood Reporter
"The hottest ticket in town!" – TODAY
Co-writer, John O’Farrell used to write for Spitting Image and once stood as a Labour candidate for Maidenhead in 2001 and the Eastleigh by-election in 2013. He also wrote jokes for Labour Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Performance information for Something Rotten! West End is not yet available.
Running time - TBC
Booking until - 21/05/2016
Something Rotten! West End is not yet on sale and is just a rumour at present. Something Rotten! theatre breaks will be available on this page on soon as tickets are on sale.