Richard Fleeshman to star in SOMETHING ROTTEN! in Manchester
Photo credit: Pamela Raith
Acclaimed star of stage and screen Richard Fleeshman (Company, Ghost the Musical, Legally Blonde The Musical) will join the cast of award-winning comedy musical Something Rotten!, which will have its highly anticipated UK premiere at Manchester Opera House from 16 June-19 July, ahead of a West End run.
Fleeshman joins the previously announced comedy, TV and musical theatre icon Jason Manford in the side-splitting mash-up of song, dance and Elizabethan absurdity that tells the story behind the creation of the world’s very first musical.
Richard Fleeshman said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining the cast of Something Rotten! This show is very special and absolutely riotous. I can’t wait to bring this larger-than-life rock star version of the Bard to the stage and I’m especially proud that the UK premiere will be in my home town of Manchester.
“Having the opportunity to perform alongside my good friend Jason Manford makes the experience even more joyous. This is an outrageously funny and uplifting show and I’m sure audiences will love every hilarious minute of it.”
The ‘90s are back! The 1590s, that is. Brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play but remain stuck in the shadow of that pompous Renaissance rockstar 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 called A MUSICAL! But amidst the scandalous excitement of Opening Night, the Bottom Brothers discover that reaching the top means being true to thine own self… and all that jazz.
Created by the award-winning team behind Mrs. Doubtfire: The Musical: Grammy award-winning songwriter Wayne Kirkpatrick, screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick and best-selling author and comedy scriptwriter John O’Farrell, Something Rotten! was the toast of Broadway where it received 10 Tony Award nominations.
This new production, which follows the acclaimed 2023 WhatsOnStage Award-winning concert version, is directed and choreographed by Tim Jackson and presented by Broadway and West End producers, Kevin McCollum of Alchemation and Joshua Andrews of JAS Theatricals.