It was the strongest overall cast album debut since If/Then in June 2014, and the third-strongest sales week of any cast recording in five years, according to its label, Ghostlight Records.
An American in Paris came in at No. 2 in its first week of release, followed by the new Broadway cast album of Fun Home in its third week of release.
The Something Rotten! cast recording also debuted on the Billboard Top 200 chart at #94, the Billboard Top Current Albums chart at #45, and the Billboard Overall Digital Albums chart at #22.
Something Rotten! was nominated for 10 Tony Awards and won one, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical, which went to Christian Borle. Bore plays Shakespeare in the tongue-in-cheek musical allegedly about how the very first musical came to be written back in Elizabethan times.
The album was released digitally June 2, with a July 17 in-store and online release to follow. To pre-order the album, click here.
Click here to listen to the Tony-nominated score.
Something Rotten! has music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick.
Helmed by Tony Award-winning Aladdin and The Book of Mormon director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten! is playing at the St. James Theatre.
Listen to the opening song below:
The track listing follows:
"Welcome to the Renaissance"
"God, I Hate Shakespeare"
"Right Hand Man"
"God, I Hate Shakespeare (Reprise)"
"A Musical"
"The Black Death"
"I Love the Way"
"Will Power"
"Bottom's Gonna Be on Top"
"Welcome to the Renaissance (Reprise)"
"Hard to Be the Bard"
"It's Eggs!"
"We See the Light"
"To Thine Own Self"
"Right Hand Man (Reprise)"
"Something Rotten!"
"Make an Omelette"
"To Thine Own Self (Reprise)"
"Finale"
Tony winner Christian Borle (Peter and the Starcatcher, Legally Blonde, Little Me, "Smash") and Tony nominee Brian d'Arcy James (Shrek, Next to Normal, Titanic, "Smash") lead a cast that also features Tony Award nominee John Cariani (Fiddler on the Roof), Heidi Blickenstaff ([title of show]), Tony nominee Brad Oscar (The Producers), Kate Reinders (Wicked), Tony nominee Brooks Ashmanskas (Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me), Peter Bartlett (Cinderella), Gerry Vichi (The Drowsy Chaperone) and Michael James Scott (The Book of Mormon).
The ensemble includes Eric Giancola (The Book of Mormon), Linda Griffin (The Drowsy Chaperone), David Hibbard (Elf), Jenny Hill (Spamalot), Stacey Todd Holt (Rocky), Courtney Iventosch (Wicked), Aaron Kaburick (Motown), Austin Lesch (Violet), Beth Johnson Nicely (Bullets Over Broadway), Aleks Pevec (Aladdin), Angie Schworer (Big Fish), Eric Sciotto (The Mystery of Edwin Drood), Brian Shepard (Young Frankenstein), Chelsea Morgan Stock (Sister Act), Ryan VanDenBoom (Annie), Matt Wall (Annie), Marisha Wallace (Aladdin) and Bud Weber (Aladdin).
Read: Two Brothers, 15 Years and One Broadway Premiere: The Journey of Something Rotten!
The creative team includes Scott Pask (scenic design), Gregg Barnes (costume design), Jeff Croiter (lighting design), Peter Hylenski (sound design), Josh Marquette (hair design), Phil Reno (music direction / conductor), Glen Kelly (arrangements), Larry Hochman (orchestrations) and casting by Telsey + Company/Bethany Knox, CSA.
Here's how the musical is billed: "Welcome to the '90s — the 1590s — long before the dawn of premium tickets, star casting and reminders to turn off your cell phones. Brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of that Renaissance rockstar 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. With its heart on its ruffled sleeve and sequins in its soul, Something Rotten! is an uproarious dose of pure Broadway fun and an irresistible ode to musicals — those dazzling creations that entertain us, inspire us, and remind us that everything’s better with an exclamation point!"
Something Rotten! is produced by Kevin McCollum, the Tony Award-winning producer of In the Heights, Avenue Q and Rent.
Tickets are available by visiting telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200. The St. James Theatre is located at 246 West 44th Street.
