Where There's a Will Chase There's a Way- SOMETHING ROTTEN! Finds Next Shakespeare!

Broadway's ten-time Tony Award-nominated hit musical comedy Something Rotten! will welcome "Nashville" star and Tony Award-nominated Broadway favorite Will Chase (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Rent, High Fidelity,The Full Monty) as "Shakespeare" on Monday, July 18.

Two-time Tony Award winner Christian Borle will play his final performance on Saturday, July 16.

Will Chase will join previously announced new Something Rotten! principals Catherine Brunell (Portia), Josh Grisetti (Nigel Bottom) and Leslie Kritzer (Bea), who will also be welcomed to the Renaissance on July 18.

"We're thrilled to have Will Chase playing Shakespeare," producer Kevin McCollum said. "He actually played the part in the very first reading before Hollywood came calling for him to star in "Nashville." We were privileged enough to have the brilliant Christian Borle take home a Tony for his inspired performance and now look forward to having Will come home to the role."

The completely original new musical Something Rotten!, directed and choreographed by Tony Award winnerCasey 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 44 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).

WILL CHASE (Shakespeare) starred as Luke Wheeler on the ABC drama "Nashville." On stage he most recently starred as John Jasper in the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Tony, Outer Critics Nominations). Other Television includes Detective Doug Young on "The Good Wife," Michael Swift on NBC's "Smash," "Necessary Roughness," "Rescue Me," "Pan Am," "Unforgettable," "White Collar," "Royal Pains," "Blue Bloods," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Cupid," "Conviction," "Third Watch," "One Life To Live," "Guiding Light," "All My Children" and "As The World Turns." Best known for his work on stage, he has starred on Broadway in Nice Work If You Can Get It, Rent,Miss Saigon, The Full Monty, Aida, Lennon, High Fidelity, The Story of My Life and Billy Elliot. He was also seen at New York City CenterEncores! in Bells Are Ringing and Pipe Dream. Film includes Butterflies of Bill Baker, Four Single Fathers, Shaft and Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway. Recordings include the original Broadway Cast recordings of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, High Fidelity and The Story of My Life; A Little Princess: Studio Cast Recording; Love On A Summer Afternoon: Songs of Sam Davis; This Ordinary Thursday: The Songs of Georgia Stitt; and Thirteen Stories Down: Songs of Jonathan Reid Gealt. He trained at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he studied conducting with Atlanta Symphony's Robert Spano and earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in percussion. Will has two daughters, Daisy and Gracie, and resides in New York City.