John Cariani, Brad Oscar, Heidi Blickenstaff & More Tapped for Something Rotten on Broadway

John Cariani, Brad Oscar, Heidi Blickenstaff and more will be donning ruffled sleeves alongside the previously announced Christian Borle and Brian d’Arcy James in Something Rotten. The new musical comedy, which features a score by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick and a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, will begin performances on March 23 at the St. James Theatre. Opening night for the Casey Nicholaw-helmed production is scheduled for April 22.

Cariani will play Nigel Bottom. Tony nominated for Fiddler on the Roof, his screen credits include Showtime, Elephant Sighs, Scotland, PA, The Good Wife, Homeland and Law & Order. Oscar takes on the role of Nostradamus. Tony nominated for The Producers, his additional Broadway credits include Big Fish, Nice Work if You Can Get It, The Addams Family, Spamalot, Jekyll & Hyde and Aspects of Love. Screen credits include Ghost Town, The Producers. Smash and The Good Wife. Blickenstaff will play Bea. Her Great White Way credits include The Addams Family, [title of show], The Little Mermaid and The Full Monty.

The cast will also feature Kate Reinders (Wicked) as Portia, Brooks Ashmanskas (Bullets Over Broadway) as Brother Jeremiah, Peter Bartlett (Cinderella) as Lord Clapham/Judge, Gerry Vichi (Curtains) as Shylock and Michael James Scott (The Book of Mormon) as Minstrel/Ensemble. Rounding out the company will be Eric Giancola, Linda Griffin, David Hibbard, Jenny Hill, Stacey Todd Holt, Courtney Iventosch , Aaron Kaburick, Austin Lesch, Beth Johnson Nicely, Aleks Pevec, Angie Schworer, Eric Sciotto, Brian Shepard, Chelsea Morgan Stock, Ryan VanDenBoom, Matt Wall, Marisha Wallace and Bud Weber.

Set in the 1590s, Something Rotten follows brothers Nick (d’Arcy James) and Nigel (Cariani) Bottom, who are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rockstar known as “The Bard" (Borle). When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theater 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 production will feature set design by Scott Pask, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Peter Hylenski, hair design by Josh Marquette, musical direction by Phil Reno, arrangements by Glen Kelly and orchestrations by Larry Hochman.