Jason Manford Brings Broadway Smash Something Rotten! to Manchester Opera House
Comedy, television and musical theatre favourite Jason Manford is set to make his long-awaited return to the stage in Something Rotten!, the award-winning Broadway comedy musical. The show will premiere at the Manchester Opera House from 16 June to 19 July 2026, ahead of a highly anticipated West End transfer.
This riotously funny show, packed with Elizabethan madness and musical mischief, is a love letter to musical theatre itself. Set in the 1590s, Something Rotten! follows brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom as they try to write the world’s first musical. Struggling to compete with the unstoppable William Shakespeare, they seek help from a soothsayer whose prediction of “singing, acting and dancing all at once” inspires theatrical chaos.
On stage, Jason Manford brings his trademark warmth and comic brilliance to the role, having previously starred in acclaimed productions including Sweeney Todd, The Producers, Guys and Dolls, and Curtains.
A West End-Ready Production from Award-Winning Creators
Created by the team behind Mrs Doubtfire: The Musical (Grammy-winning songwriter Wayne Kirkpatrick, screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick, and bestselling author John O’Farrell) Something Rotten! received 10 Tony Award nominations during its Broadway run.
This new UK production is directed and choreographed by Tim Jackson (Merrily We Roll Along, Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York) and produced by Broadway and West End heavyweights Kevin McCollum and Joshua Andrews.
Supported by Manchester Gets It First, the production continues the city’s growing reputation as a hub for major new musical theatre premieres.
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