Broadway meets the Bard

Smitten with Shakespeare and mad on musicals?

Don’t miss the Australasian premiere of Something Rotten!, the thigh-slapping mashup of Broadway and the Bard now on at Ōtautahi Christchurch’s Court Theatre. Described by TimeOut NY as “Broadway’s funniest, splashiest, slap-happiest musical comedy in at least 400 years…”, this is the largest choreographed musical the Court Theatre has ever produced – and a must-see for theatre goers, musical lovers and Shakespearean fans.

“I cannot imagine seeing this show and not falling in love with it,” says artistic director Alison Walls.

“It’s a delightful mashup of Broadway musical theatre and the Renaissance. It’s big, bright, and energetic – it’s the perfect end of year celebration.”

Something Rotten! transports you back to England in 1595, a time when William Shakespeare has rockstar status and playwright brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom were jockeying for the limelight. Desperate to out-Bard the Bard, Nick consults soothsayer Nostradamus and learns that the next ‘big thing’ in theatre will be a musical – a play where “an actor is saying his lines, and out of nowhere he just starts singing”. Determined to be the next hot ticket – and to put Shakespeare firmly in his place – the siblings set out to write the world’s first-ever musical, Omelette, while also navigating the trials and tribulations of life, including Nick’s wife Bea masquerading as a man and Nigel falling head over heels for a Puritan’s daughter.

“It’s super-fun with the generosity and lushness of a great Broadway musical. Witty, sometimes silly, and also pretty smart, Something Rotten! is chock full of nods to other musicals and writers of the day, with some historical jokes thrown in. If you’re a musical theatre, literature or history buff, there are so many little gems, but even if you’re not, it’s just an amazing show,” says Walls.

Directed by the highly acclaimed Benjamin Kilby-Henson, one of New Zealand’s busiest theatre directors, and with a dream team of creative talent including musical director Richard Marrett, set designer Daniel Williams and costume designer Tina Hutchison-Thomas, Something Rotten! is this summer’s must-see production.

“This musical demands that you go all out with it and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” says Walls. “There are over 400 spectacular costume pieces and lots of really big numbers with the whole ensemble. There’s something so glorious about having 20-plus people singing and dancing on stage together.”

The show-stopping cast includes on-stage and on-screen marvel Jonathan Martin (Nick Bottom), renowned actor and lead singer of The Goldonies Cameron Douglas (Nigel Bottom), and Matu Ngaropo who plays Shakespeare hot on the heels of touring Australia as George Washington in Hamilton.

Created by Grammy Award-winning songwriter Wayne Kirkpatrick and screenwriters Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, Something Rotten! has been described by NY Post as “a blockbuster” and Associated Press as “the funniest thing to arrive on Broadway since ‘The Book of Mormon’.”

A hilarious celebration of musical theatre, this is a show that promises a rollicking good time for all.

Image The thigh-slapping mashup of Broadway and the Bard is now on at Ōtautahi Christchurch’s Court Theatre

Season runs from November 25, 2023 – January 26, 2024. Book now by visiting courttheatre.org.nz/ whats-on/something-rotten.