PRESS: Waterfront Theatre School presents the SA premiere of hilarious musical comedy SOMETHING ROTTEN!

Christine Skinner

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Waterfront Theatre School proudly presents the South African premiere of the Tony Award-nominated musical comedy SOMETHING ROTTEN! The production will run for a strictly limited season at Artscape Arena from 10 to 18 July 2026.

Image supplied.

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.

Image Supplied.

“Something Rotten! is a joyous celebration of theatre itself. It reminds us of the power of imagination, collaboration, and storytelling to bring people together,” says Director Paul Griffiths.

“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,” says Griffiths.

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

SOMETHING ROTTEN! will be performed from 10 to 18 July 2026 at Artscape Arena. It carries a PG age restriction. Tickets cost R250pp, with group bookings of ten or more, tickets cost R230pp. Bookings can be made at Webtickets. Please note, latecomers will not be admitted.

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. More details on their website: www.wtschool.co.za.