SOMETHING ROTTEN! to Celebrate 500th Performance on Broadway Tomorrow

Something Rotten!, the ten-time Tony Award-nominated smash hit musical comedy, will celebrate its 500th performance tomorrow, Friday, July 1 at Broadway's St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street). Celebrate the Fourth of July holiday early with guaranteed fireworks of laughter at the most American of art forms - the musical theatre comedy - featuring the genre's very own Founding Fathers.

Performance times during the holiday weekend are:
*Friday, July 1 at 8:00pm
*Saturday, July 2 at 2:00pm and 8:00pm
[Dark on Sunday, July 3 and Monday, July 4]
Tuesday, July 5 at 7:00pm

*For performances on July 1 and 2, patrons can use code SRJULY4 to get tickets from $40 as part of the "Star-Spangled Broadway" initiative.

The completely original new musical Something Rotten!, directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Aladdin), with music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Wayne Kirkpatrick and Golden Globe Award and Tony Award nominee Karey Kirkpatrick and a book by Tony Award nominees Karey Kirkpatrick and best-selling author John O'Farrell, is playing at the St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street).

From the director of Aladdin and co-director of The Book of Mormon and the producer of Rent, Avenue Q and In the Heights 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 (McClure) and Nigel Bottom (Cariani) are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rock star known as "The Bard." 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!

Something Rotten! currently stars Tony Award nominee Rob McClure (Chaplin, Honeymoon in Vegas, Avenue Q), two-time Tony Award winner Christian Borle (Peter and the Starcatcher), Tony Award nominee John Cariani (Fiddler on the Roof), Heidi Blickenstaff ([title of show]), two-time Tony Award nominee Brad Oscar (The Producers), Kate Reinders (Wicked), David Beach (It's Only a Play, Fish in the Dark, Mamma Mia!), Edward Hibbert (It Shoulda Been You, The Drowsy Chaperone, "Frasier"), Gerry Vichi (The Drowsy Chaperone) and André Ward (Rock of Ages, Xanadu).

Beginning Monday, July 18, Something Rotten! will welcome Tony Award nominee Will Chase (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Rent, High Fidelity, The Full Monty) as "Shakespeare," Theatre World Award winner Josh Grisetti (It Shoulda Been You, Rent at New World Stages, Enter Laughing) as "Nigel Bottom," Lortel Award winner Leslie Kritzer (The Robber Bridegroom, Elf, Sondheim on Sondheim) as "Bea," and Catherine Brunell (Something Rotten!, LES MISERABLES, Thoroughly Modern Millie) as "Portia."

Something Rotten! is produced by Kevin McCollum, Broadway Global Ventures, CMC, Mastro/Goodman, Jerry and Ronald Frankel, Morris Berchard, Kyodo Tokyo Inc., Wendy Federman, Barbara Freitag, LAMS Productions, Winkler/DeSimone, Timothy Laczynski, Dan Markley, Harris/Karmazin, JAM Theatricals, Robert Greenblatt and Jujamcyn Theaters.