Something Rotten - In Concert West End Reviews

The stunt cast is joyous. Nick Bottom is a role tailored for Manford. Thick Yorkshire drawl and a larger-than-life personality, what he lacks in acting skills he compensates in presence. It’s to be said, though, that most of the company could have ...

The stunt cast is joyous. Nick Bottom is a role tailored for Manford. Thick Yorkshire drawl and a larger-than-life personality, what he lacks in acting skills he compensates in presence. It’s to be said, though, that most of the company could have done with more rehearsals, with the quality of the spoken deliveries suffering because of it. Wallace tears the house down as per her usual style; playful and thoughtful at once, she was born to be Bea. Cassius Hackforth completes the trio as Nick’s sensitive and poetic brother Nigel. He and Evelyn Hoskins’s Portia make an adorable star-crossed couple and Shakespeare superfans.

Gary Wilmot is a hoot as Thomas Nostradamus, the ever-sensational Marisha Wallace (who appeared in Something Rotten! on Broadway) plays Nick’s quick-witted wife Bea and Steve Furst makes every line matter in his supporting role as Shylock (his char...

Gary Wilmot is a hoot as Thomas Nostradamus, the ever-sensational Marisha Wallace (who appeared in Something Rotten! on Broadway) plays Nick’s quick-witted wife Bea and Steve Furst makes every line matter in his supporting role as Shylock (his character’s name is borrowed by Shakespeare, pinching freely as ever) whose speeches often give satirical bite to the comedy. There’s also Nick’s sensitive poet brother, Nigel (Cassius Hackforth), who falls for Portia (Evelyn Hoskins), daughter of Brother Jeremiah (Cameron Blakely), a puritan with carnal impulses given away by recurring double entendres.