There’s a delicious irony at the heart of Something Rotten! finally making its way across the Atlantic. A Broadway musical that spends two and a half hours gleefully mocking theatre itself has landed in the very country that gave the world William Shakespeare. And judging by the uproarious response at Manchester’s Opera House, Britain has been waiting far too long to meet it, in all its full-scale glory. First seen on Broadway in 2015 and nominated for ten Tony Awards, followed by a West End Concert, this UK premiere arrives not a moment too soon- and proves every bit as funny, clever and joyously ridiculous as its reputation suggests.

Set in the 90s (1595), the show follows the struggling Bottom brothers (Jason Manford and a delightfully meek Cassius Hackforth) as they attempt to escape the shadow of a swaggering Shakespeare by inventing an entirely new form of entertainment: the musical. What follows is a relentless barrage of theatrical in-jokes, historical nonsense and affectionate parody that will delight seasoned theatre obsessives and newcomers alike.

At the centre of the mayhem is Marisha Wallace’s Bea with a scene-stealing performance. Wallace possesses the rare ability to command a stage simply by stepping onto it. Her powerhouse vocals are expected; her comic precision is the bigger surprise. Bea could easily be reduced to the supportive-wife role, but Wallace gives her warmth, grit and enough personality to charm a quill out of an ink pot.

Richard Fleeshman has an absolute ball as Shakespeare, reimagined here as a leather-trousered Renaissance rock star in a cod-piece. Strutting around the stage with the confidence of a man who knows he has the audience in the palm of his hand, Fleeshman captures exactly the sort of smug celebrity energy this Bard needs. Every entrance feels like a concert encore, every exit is signposted and rapturously applauded.

Carla Dixon-Hernandez brings a sparkling sincerity to Portia, grounding romance amid the chaos without ever losing the show’s comic rhythm. Lest we forget her vocals; intertwined with Wallace’s- it’s sublime. And then there’s Chad Saint Louis, whose Troubadour functions as the show’s gleeful ringmaster. Effortlessly engaging with egg-straordinary vocal chops- and I am telling you, he’s one to watch.

Meanwhile, Cory English gives a masterclass in comic timing as the hopelessly unreliable soothsayer Nostradamus. With a twinkle in his eye and impeccable deadpan delivery, English turns every appearance into a comedic triumph. His show-stopping rendition of A Musical is one of the evening’s undisputed highlights: a dazzling, delirious love letter to musical theatre that somehow manages to both celebrate and lampoon the genre simultaneously. As references fly at breakneck speed and the production spirals into glorious chaos, English remains firmly in control, expertly guiding both the Bottom brothers and the audience through one of the funniest sequences in contemporary musical theatre.

Director and choreographer Tim Jackson understands that Something Rotten! works best when played entirely straight despite its outrageous premise; the result is a production that never winks or nudges too hard at the audience. Jokes fly thick and fast- Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell’s book verges on pantomime at times (something our American cousins might be unfamiliar with) but the storytelling remains remarkably clear throughout.

Colin Richmond’s set design is a marvel of theatrical ingenuity, transforming Elizabethan England into a playground of moving scenery and visual gags, while Howard Hudson’s lighting design shifts seamlessly between intimate storytelling and full-blown Broadway spectacle. Together they create a production that feels lavish without ever becoming overegged.

What makes Something Rotten! so irresistible is that beneath all the satire lies genuine affection for theatre. It skewers musicals while simultaneously celebrating everything audiences love about them.

Four hundred years after Shakespeare supposedly changed theatre forever, Something Rotten! arrives in his homeland.

The Bard would probably hate it.

Everyone else will love it.

Playing at Manchester’s Opera House until Sunday 19th July. Further information and booking details can be found here.

Tickets received in exchange for an honest review. #AD

Photography by Pamela Raith.