Something Rotten! to end B'way run on 1 January 2017

Producers of Broadway's musical comedy Something Rotten! have now posted a closure notice of 1 January 2017 at the St. James Theatre, ahead of a National Tour officially launching in Boston on 17 January 2017.

Producer Kevin McCollum released the following statement:

"On behalf of all the producers, we are so grateful to an exceptional company and crew for a wonderful run. It has been rewarding to have the opportunity to bring this completely original musical to the stage with Casey Nicholaw's vision and to introduce new voices in the musical theater with Karey Kirkpatrick, John O'Farrell and Wayne Kirkpatrick. And we are thrilled to announce our campaign to make America laugh again with our national tour."

Something Rotten! features music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner Wayne Kirkpatrick & Karey Kirkpatrick, with a book by Karey Kirkpatrick & John O'Farrell. The musical comedy is directed and choreographed by Tony winner Casey Nicholaw.

Synopsis: "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 and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rockstar 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."

The current principal cast of Something Rotten! includes Tony nominee Rob McClure (Nick Bottom), Tony nominee Will Chase (The Bard), Josh Grisetti (Nigel Bottom), Leslie Kritzer (Bea), two-time Tony nominee Brad Oscar (Nostradamus), Catherine Brunell (Portia), Tony nominee David Beach (Brother Jeremiah), Edward Hibbert (Lord Clapham/Master of Justice), Gerry Vichi (Shylock), and André Ward (Minstrel).

The creative team features scenic design by Scott Pask, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Peter Hylenski, and hair design by Josh Marquette. Musical direction is by Phil Reno, with arrangements by Glen Kelly and orchestrations by Larry Hochman.

Something Rotten! is produced on Broadway 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.

- by Tom Millward