Waterfront Theatre School presents the musical comedy Something Rotten!
Waterfront Theatre School proudly presents the South African premiere of the Tony Award-nominated musical comedy Something Rotten!
Something Rotten! is a gloriously cheeky, tap-dancing, jazz-handed love letter to theatre that gleefully asks one very important question: what happens when the Bard’s competition gets desperate enough to invent the musical? The answer, as it turns out, is chaos, spectacle, and a lot of rhyming couplets.
It’s bold, brash, knowingly silly, and packed with show-stopping numbers. In short: if you’ve ever loved musicals, Something Rotten! is here to roast them, toast them, and then serve them up with a flourish of jazz hands.
Performed by the talented Waterfront Theatre School students, direction is by Paul Griffiths with choreography by Ursula Lubbe, the same dynamic team who dazzled audiences with sold-out hits Heathers – The Musical and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
Thinus Viljoen completes the powerhouse creative team as Musical Director. He brings his wealth of performing arts experience and musical knowledge to the production. He says it’s fitting this is his first time in the role of musical director for WTS, as the first song he sang during his time as a student there was from Something Rotten!
Written by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell with Music and Lyrics composed by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, Something Rotten! was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Director Paul Griffiths, says:
“Something Rotten! is a joyous celebration of theatre itself. It reminds us of the power of imagination, collaboration, and storytelling to bring people together.”
“However beneath the laughter, the spectacle and the wonderfully irreverent humour, there lies a deceptively simple question: what happens when we spend so much time trying to be someone else that we forget who we are?”
“Following our previous productions of Heathers and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Something Rotten! felt like a natural next step in an ongoing conversation with our students and audiences about identity, authenticity, and self-discovery, because ultimately, whether in theatre, education, or life itself, success is rarely found in becoming somebody else. It is found in the often difficult, but deeply rewarding, journey of becoming more fully ourselves.”
Set in the Renaissance yet remarkably contemporary in its message, Something Rotten! follows Nick Bottom’s relentless pursuit of success as he struggles under the shadow of the seemingly perfect Shakespeare. His journey is driven by comparison, self-doubt, and the belief that fulfilment lies in becoming more like someone else. It is only when he reconnects with his own voice and vision that he begins to understand the true meaning of success.
Show Information:
Something Rotten
Venue:
Artscape Arena
Dates & Times:
10 – 18 July 2026
10, 11 and 12 July at 17h30;
14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 July at 19h30;
11 July 13h00;
18 July at 14h30
Ticket Prices:
From R230 – R250 (including VAT)
Bookings:
Webtickets or the Theatre Box Office on 011 883 8606 / 083 377 4969
Duration:
120min with interval
Age Restriction:
PG
About Waterfront Theatre School
The Waterfront Theatre School is a premier performing arts institution committed to shaping the next generation of performers, teachers, and creative innovators. Guided by its philosophy of Perform, Teach, Create, WTS provides rigorous, industry-focused training in acting, singing, and dance while fostering artistic excellence, leadership, and entrepreneurship. Its graduates continue to make their mark across theatre, film, television, education, and the wider creative industries around the world.
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