Broadway Stars Open FPAC’s `Something Rotten!'

Above, Christopher Rice-Thompson

The Franklin Performing Arts Company (FPAC) will present the hilarious musical comedy Something Rotten! running March 10-19 at THE BLACK BOX. Set in the 1590s, brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play, but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rock star known as "The Bard." When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre 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.

FPAC’s production stars NYC/LA’s Robbie Rescigno and Paul Rescigno as the Bottom Brothers, Christopher Rice-Thomson (Hamilton, Book of Mormon, Pretty Woman) as Shakespeare, Katie Gray as Bea, Ali Funkhouser as Portia, and Michael Barra (The Greatest Showman, A Bronx Tale) as Nostradamus.

The production directed by FPAC Artistic/Executive Director Raye Lynn Mercer will feature choreography by Broadway legend Tyler Hanes. Hanes was only 17 when he was discovered by Ann Reinking while attending Broadway Theater Project in Tampa, Florida. She cast him in the first national tour of the Tony Award winning musical, Fosse. Following the tour, he attended Carnegie Mellon University, leaving after a year to make his Broadway debut in the 2002 Broadway revival of Oklahoma! Soon after, he appeared in the original Broadway companies of Urban Cowboy, The Boy From Oz, The Frogs, the 2005 revival of Sweet Charity, and as Larry in the original revival company of A Chorus Line. Hanes also appeared in the Broadway companies of Hairspray and the 2014 revival of On The Town. He starred as Rum Tum Tugger in the highly anticipated Broadway revival of CATS, which he was nominated for a Chita Rivera Award for Outstanding Male Dancer in a Broadway show.

The Franklin Performing Arts Company at THE BLACK BOX is a professional Equity theater producing musicals, plays, and more, featuring Broadway stars, professional and regional performers, and emerging artists.

For tickets and more information, visit THEBLACKBOXonline.com or call the box office at 508-528-3370.