It’s a full house at The Court Theatre, a mix of date nights, family groups, and work colleagues enjoying a Christmas shout from the boss. On stage, it’s a riot. Can-can girls a’kickin’, medieval minstrels a’strummin’ and a leather-clad Bard channelling Elvis, pre-Vegas and hot!

Playing from now till late January, The Court Theatre’s production of Something Rotten! is guaranteed to have you heading home with a big smile and humming its theme song, “To Thine Own Self Be True”.

The Tony Award-winning musical gets its Southern Hemisphere premiere with The Court Theatre’s production. There’s a story, but in true musical tradition it never gets in the way of the song and dance.

It’s England 1595 and playwright brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom can’t compete with the rock-star popularity of William Shakespeare. In desperation they pin all their hopes on “the next big thing in theatre”, which they call a musical — a play where “an actor is saying his lines, and out of nowhere he just starts singing”.

It’s not just funny if you did English Lit, there’s also as many pop culture references as a Shrek movie. And if you’re a fan of the big Broadway hits, it’s a treasure trove of hidden gems – a pole momentarily evokes a scene from A Chorus Line (blink and you’ll miss it!), sailor hats are a quick nod to any number of nautical-themed musicals. And so on.

At 23, it’s a big cast – this is the biggest choreographed musical The Court Theatre has done – and it’s full of what Hollywood calls a “triple threat” – they act! they sing! they dance!

They tap as well – it’s MC Will vs MC Nick in a 16^th Century “tap battle” straight from Eminem’s 8 Mile.

The production marks musical director Richard Marrett’s 25^th mainstage musical at The Court Theatre and again we have a perfectly polished soundtrack that swings from show tune to moody jazz to high-energy pop/rock in a beat.

In fact, the whole production team – Marrett, director Benjamin Kilby-Henson, choreographer Kira Josephson, set designer Dan Williams and costume designer Tina Hutchison-Thomas – have nailed it with this one. Don’t miss your chance to see another end-of-year cracker from the team at The Court – it’s a blast!

Something Rotten!, till Sat 27 Jan 2024, courttheatre.org.nz