Based on Sydney Pollack's 1982 Academy Award-winning film of the same name, Tootsie follows Michael Dorsey, a skilled actor with a talent for not keeping a job. Desperate and out-of-work, Michael makes a last-ditch effort at making his dreams come true...by disguising himself as actress Dorothy Michaels. In a meteoric rise to Broadway stardom, Dorothy soon has audiences falling at her feet while Michael (disguised as Dorothy) is falling for his co-star, Julie Nichols. It isn't long before Michael realizes that maintaining his greatest acting success is going to be much harder than he expected.
Now I’ve only seen the original movie once a couple years ago, so I’m not intimately familiar with it. Therefore, this review will be mainly focused on the musical itself. At this point, the idea of a man posing as a woman in order to find work isn’t really anything new in storytelling. It happened with Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot (which did receive a stage musical adaptation in 1972 titled Sugar and another one is in the works) as well as Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire (which will be receiving a stage musical adaptation on Broadway this spring).
In 1982, Dustin Hoffman did that exact same thing in Tootsie to get himself cast in a daytime soap opera. However, this musical completely updates the plot. Not only is the story now set in 2019, but is also very well aware of how much daytime soap operas nowadays aren’t as big as they were back in the 1980s. So instead, the main protagonist finds himself cast in a (fictional) new Broadway musical. Book writer Robert Horn absolutely deserves a lot of credit for not only completely rethinking the plot of the original movie as a Broadway musical, but also for making the story itself accessible for the era we're living in now with the #MeToo and Time's Up movements. After all, it is about a man taking a job away from a woman (which is smartly pointed out in the first act). Not to mention that David Yazbek, who previously did other screen-to-stage musical adaptations such as The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and The Band’s Visit, has crafted a terrific musical comedy score, where he even manages to reveal characters through song.
Under the direction of Scott Ellis, he assembles an impressive cast of quadruple threats who each sing, dance, act, and play comedy very well. Leading the show is Santino Fontana, who pulls off quite a high wire act. Not only does he spend quite a bit of time in drag as Dorothy Michaels at multiple points throughout the show, but he also disguises his own voice in terms of both speaking and singing. Even if you just listen to Dorothy’s songs on the original Broadway cast recording, you’d be so astonished that it’s a man singing as a woman. Credit definitely has to go to costume designer William Ivey Long for helping Santino physically transform himself into a woman. Though as Michael Dorsey, he really has a great character arc as he goes from desperate unemployed actor in the beginning of the show to learning about the consequences of his scheme as the plot unfolds.
In fact, one area where I thought the musical improved upon the original movie was the role of Julie Nichols. While I liked Jessica Lange’s performance in the film, I didn’t find anything special about her character that would result in winning her first Oscar (though it is worth noting that Lange had an additional nomination in Best Actress that year for Frances). In the musical, Julie has an Act I number titled ‘There Was John’, where she sings about a previous failed relationship she had which gives more depth to that character. Ultimately, Lilli Cooper’s performance as Julie Nichols becomes the heart of the show, grounding it from all the craziness going on in the plot.
Other comedic highlights of the cast include Andy Grotelueschen as Michael’s roommate, Jeff Slater, who is also an unsuccessful playwright; Sarah Stiles as struggling actress Sandy Lester; John Behlmann as Max Van Horn, an actor who ends up falling in love with Dorothy Michaels; Reg Rogers as director/choreographer Ron Carlisle; Julie Halston as Broadway producer Rita Marshall; and Michael McGrath makes the most of his limited stage time as Michael Dorsey’s agent, Stan Fields.
Overall, Tootsie is a great new musical comedy that perfectly updates a classic story to 2019. If you’re a fan of the original movie, this adaptation should prove to be a worthy companion without ever feeling like a carbon copy. If you’re not too familiar with the original movie, you should still get a kick out of watching one of the best musical comedies of the decade. By the way, I should also add that the performance I attended happened to have been the night the show was filmed for the archives at the New York Public Library.
For more information, please visit:
tootsiemusical.com/
Now I’ve only seen the original movie once a couple years ago, so I’m not intimately familiar with it. Therefore, this review will be mainly focused on the musical itself. At this point, the idea of a man posing as a woman in order to find work isn’t really anything new in storytelling. It happened with Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot (which did receive a stage musical adaptation in 1972 titled Sugar and another one is in the works) as well as Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire (which will be receiving a stage musical adaptation on Broadway this spring).
In 1982, Dustin Hoffman did that exact same thing in Tootsie to get himself cast in a daytime soap opera. However, this musical completely updates the plot. Not only is the story now set in 2019, but is also very well aware of how much daytime soap operas nowadays aren’t as big as they were back in the 1980s. So instead, the main protagonist finds himself cast in a (fictional) new Broadway musical. Book writer Robert Horn absolutely deserves a lot of credit for not only completely rethinking the plot of the original movie as a Broadway musical, but also for making the story itself accessible for the era we're living in now with the #MeToo and Time's Up movements. After all, it is about a man taking a job away from a woman (which is smartly pointed out in the first act). Not to mention that David Yazbek, who previously did other screen-to-stage musical adaptations such as The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and The Band’s Visit, has crafted a terrific musical comedy score, where he even manages to reveal characters through song.
Under the direction of Scott Ellis, he assembles an impressive cast of quadruple threats who each sing, dance, act, and play comedy very well. Leading the show is Santino Fontana, who pulls off quite a high wire act. Not only does he spend quite a bit of time in drag as Dorothy Michaels at multiple points throughout the show, but he also disguises his own voice in terms of both speaking and singing. Even if you just listen to Dorothy’s songs on the original Broadway cast recording, you’d be so astonished that it’s a man singing as a woman. Credit definitely has to go to costume designer William Ivey Long for helping Santino physically transform himself into a woman. Though as Michael Dorsey, he really has a great character arc as he goes from desperate unemployed actor in the beginning of the show to learning about the consequences of his scheme as the plot unfolds.
In fact, one area where I thought the musical improved upon the original movie was the role of Julie Nichols. While I liked Jessica Lange’s performance in the film, I didn’t find anything special about her character that would result in winning her first Oscar (though it is worth noting that Lange had an additional nomination in Best Actress that year for Frances). In the musical, Julie has an Act I number titled ‘There Was John’, where she sings about a previous failed relationship she had which gives more depth to that character. Ultimately, Lilli Cooper’s performance as Julie Nichols becomes the heart of the show, grounding it from all the craziness going on in the plot.
Other comedic highlights of the cast include Andy Grotelueschen as Michael’s roommate, Jeff Slater, who is also an unsuccessful playwright; Sarah Stiles as struggling actress Sandy Lester; John Behlmann as Max Van Horn, an actor who ends up falling in love with Dorothy Michaels; Reg Rogers as director/choreographer Ron Carlisle; Julie Halston as Broadway producer Rita Marshall; and Michael McGrath makes the most of his limited stage time as Michael Dorsey’s agent, Stan Fields.
Overall, Tootsie is a great new musical comedy that perfectly updates a classic story to 2019. If you’re a fan of the original movie, this adaptation should prove to be a worthy companion without ever feeling like a carbon copy. If you’re not too familiar with the original movie, you should still get a kick out of watching one of the best musical comedies of the decade. By the way, I should also add that the performance I attended happened to have been the night the show was filmed for the archives at the New York Public Library.
For more information, please visit:
tootsiemusical.com/