Something Rotten is a comedic musical that tells the story of brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom, who are playwrights living in Elizabethan England. The plot is set in 1595, when the Bottom brothers are struggling to compete with the wild success of their contemporary, William Shakespeare. Desperate to write a hit play, Nick consults a soothsayer who foretells that the future of theater will be a "musical." This leads the brothers on a hilarious journey as they attempt to create the world's first musical.