SOMETHING ROTTEN! Satirical Series Recalls Classic Elizabethan Musicals

Those clever folks at Something Rotten! have begun a series of Playbill covers recalling the great musicals of the Elizabethan era. Naturally, each one bears a striking resemblance to a more contemporary Broadway hit.

They begin with the smash hit featured in Something Rotten!, Nick Bottom's Omelette, then follow up with a pair that also set 16th Century box offices spinning.

The completely original new musical comedy, Something Rotten!, directed and choreographed by Tony Award winnerCasey Nicholaw (THE BOOK OF MORMON, ALADDIN), with music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner Wayne Kirkpatrick and Golden Globe Award nominee Karey Kirkpatrick and a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and best-selling author John O'Farrell, officially opened on April 22nd at the St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street) on Broadway.

SOMETHING ROTTEN! stars Tony Award nominee Brian d'Arcy James (SHREK), Tony Award winner Christian Borle(PETER AND THE STARCATCHER), Tony Award nominee John Cariani (FIDDLER ON THE ROOF), Heidi Blickenstaff ([TITLE OF SHOW]), Tony Award nominee Brad Oscar (THE PRODUCERS), Kate Reinders (WICKED), Tony Award nominee Brooks Ashmanskas (MARTIN SHORT: FAME BECOMES ME),Peter Bartlett (CINDERELLA),Gerry Vichi (THE DROWSY CHAPERONE) and Michael James Scott (THE BOOK OF MORMON).

From the co-director of THE BOOK OF MORMON and the producer of AVENUE Q comes something original... something fresh... Something Rotten!, a world-premiere musical comedy about the musical comedy that started it all. Welcome to the '90s - the 1590s - long before the dawn of premium tickets, star casting and reminders to turn off your cell phones. Brothers Nick (d'Arcy James) and Nigel Bottom (Cariani) are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rockstar known as "The Bard" (Borle). When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing and acting at the same time, Nick and Nigel set out to write the world's very first MUSICAL! But amidst the scandalous excitement of Opening Night, the Bottom Brothers realize that reaching the top means being true to thine own self... and all that jazz.

With its heart on its ruffled sleeve and sequins in its soul, Something Rotten! is an uproarious dose of pure Broadway fun and an irresistible ode to musicals - those dazzling creations that entertain us, inspire us, and remind us that everything's better with an exclamation point!