Broadway star joins Something Rotten UK Manchester premiere
- Alan Hulme
- 5 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Olivier award-nominated Marisha Wallace has joined the company for the UK premiere of comedy musical Something Rotten!, which opens at Manchester Opera House (June 16-July 19), ahead of London's West End.
Actress and singer Marisha, acclaimed for her performances in shows including Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma!, Waitress and Dreamgirls, will star as the musical’s leading lady Bea, having performed in Something Rotten! on Broadway before moving to the UK.
She said: “It was pure joy to be a part of this hilarious musical on Broadway a decade ago – so now, to be joining this incredible company for the first time UK audiences will get to see it, is a full-circle moment in the best way!”
She joins the previously-announced comedian, TV host and musical theatre star Jason Manford (Sweeney Todd, The Producers, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), who plays Nick Bottom, and similarly-local actor Richard Fleeshman (Company, Ghost the Musical, Legally Blonde The Musical, Coronation Street) as Shakespeare.
The 90s are back! The 1590s, that is. Brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play, but are stuck in the shadow of pompous
Renaissance rock star, Will
Shakespeare.
When a quirky soothsayer foretells an outlandish future for theatre – full of acting, singing and dancing, all at the same time – Nick and Nigel set out to write this strange new creation, the musical!
But amid the excitement of opening night, the Bottom Brothers find reaching the top means being true to thine own self… and so on.
The show is written by Grammy award-winning songwriter Wayne Kirkpatrick (Change the World, Every Heartbeat), screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick (Chicken Run, James and the Giant Peach) and best-selling author and comedy scriptwriter John O’Farrell (Spitting Image, Have I Got News for You, Just For One Day). The show was the toast of Broadway when it opened there in 2015 - picking up 10 Tony award nominations (though winning only one).
The three writers are the team behind the 2019 stage musical hit Mrs Doubtfire the Musical (which incidentally will tour later this year, taking in Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield and other theatres from September).
This new production of the Shakespeare comedy - which follows the 2023 WhatsOnStage award-winning concert version, is directed and choreographed by Tim Jackson (Merrily We Roll Along, Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York).
More info and tickets here