“Like It Hot”? Like it a Lot!
FLY, MARIPOSA, FLY: Edward Juvier (center left) is Osgood and Tavis Kordell (center right) is Daphne along with the ensemble in the First National Touring Company of Some Like It Hot, part of the BroadwaySF season at the Orpheum Theatre. Photo byMatthew Murphy.
I reviewed the First National Touring produciton of Some Like It Hot for the San Jose Mercury News/Ban Area News Group. Read the review here. (Note: there may be a pay wall)
Herewith, further thoughts about Some Like It Hot.
One of the undeniable pleasures of musical theater is that it sings and dances its way into a vision of a better world – at least one where performers can join together long enough to tell a story that expresses emotion through music and movement created by extraordinary artists who have also come together to build that story word by word, note by note, step by step. Not every musical is brilliant. Some are forgettable, some take wrong turns, some are misguided from the start. But usually, even a medium musical can create a moment of connection, a confluence of writing, song, emotion, choreography that taps into the potential of what musical theater can do.
VAMP: Matt Loehr (left) is Joe, Leandra Ellis-Gaston (center) is Sugar and Tavis Kordell (right) is Jerry. Photo by Matthew Murphy
Like all artistic endeavors, musicals cover a spectrum, from frivolous and fun to deeply moving and mind altering. Most of them sit somewhere in the middle. In recent years, we’ve seen a spate of jukebox musicals repurposing songs never meant for Broadway storytelling and turning them into (sometimes reluctant) show tunes. We’ve also had a steady stream of beloved movies being turned into musicals, and while that’s nothing new (Broadway has always looked to books and movies for material), it has too often felt like the creators of these adaptations are aiming first for commercial success without much concern (or maybe not enough development time) to worry about artistic merits. It’s brand name first, actual musical second.
That’s why the latest musical adaptation of the 1959 movie Some Like It Hot gives me hope. The beloved comedy by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is one of my favorite movies and is considered one of Hollywood’s best ever. Hard to go wrong with a great script and a cast of luminaries that included Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Joe E. Brown, who delivers one of the best last lines in a mover ever.
It seems only natural that someone would want to add song and dance to the crazy story of Chicago musicians who witness a gangland murder and then have to run from the gangsters who want to dispose of any and all witnesses. They opt to disguise themselves as women and go on tour with an all-women band heading to California.
The composers of Funny Girl, Jule Styne (music) and Bob Merrill (lyrics), crafted the score. Peter Stone (1776, Titanic) wrote the book and the whole thing was directed and choreographed by Gower Champion (Hello, Dolly!, Bye Bye Birdie). The resulting show, called Sugar (after the Monroe character), wasn’t nearly as beloved as the movie, but it went on to a long life in community theaters, and in the early 2000s, the show was revised, retitled Some Like It Hot: The Musical and Tony Curtis joined the cast as Osgood, the millionaire besotted by one of the heroes in his female disguise.
The company of Some Like It Hot executes director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw’s choreography with dazzling precision and verve. Photo by Matthew Murphy
MGM on Stage, a division of Amazon MGM Studios, has a history of turning its properties into enjoyable, if not life-changing musicals: Legally Blonde, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and, more recently, New York, New York. The notion of taking another shot at turning Some Like It Hot (which the BBC called the best comedy of all time in a 2000 poll of 253 critics) into a musical was too much to resist.
The results this time are much more dazzling.
Book writers Amber Ruffin and Matthew López come to the adaptation with a 21st century sensibility, so there’s more sensitivity in dealing with men dressing as women, and the changes they’ve made to the story are smart and imbue it with a new sense of purpose beyond comedy and entertainment (which are both present in abundance). The score by Marc Shaiman (music, lyrics) and Scott Wittman is the duo’s best since Hairspray and is like a love letter to classic Broadway, with brassy blasts of joy and ballads that break into dazzling vocal (and emotional) heights.
Director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw has a strong feel for musical storytelling that is never less than entertaining but is often more. He loves his audience and it shows, just as it did in past work from Aladdin to The Book of Mormon to The Prom and The Drowsy Chaperone. He’s got a flair for the old-school razzle-dazzle of Broadway, and he puts that to great use in Some Like It Hot, which features some of the best tap dancing I can remember.
To quote from my review for the San Jose Mercury News:
Some Like It Hot is a compassionate, wildly entertaining musical comedy that dares to fantasize about an America where race and gender discrimination can be conquered. And all it takes is good-hearted people, true love, cocktails and, of course, show tunes.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Some Like It Hot, with a book by Matthew López and Amber Ruffin, music by Marc Shaiman with lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman, continues through Jan. 26 as part of the BroadwaySF season at the Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes (including intermission). Tickets are $55-$160.50. Call 888-746-1799; or visit www.broadwaysf.com.
