Musical comedy is back in town, and it’s been a long time coming. As the current season whimpers to a close, Tootsie enters the lists with a considerable store of laughter, melody, and charm. In this dismal season—which started with the unconvincing Head Over Heels and the altogether dire Gettin’ the Band Back Together—Tootsie, in that red sequined dress, looks pretty good. From the first blast of the overture, you think: Ah, yes, musical comedy again!
Composer/lyricist David Yazbek, who now brings forth his fifth Broadway effort, has continually demonstrated craft, skill, and a determination to change course thematically. His most recent musical, last season’s Tony-winning The Band’s Visit, was a new-style musical as exotic as the jasmine-scented breeze he contrived. Here, he is working more in the vein of his early Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The songs are attractive and the lyrics funny, so much so that we look forward to a second hearing. The book comes from Robert Horn, a TV writer whose only Broadway credit is 13 The Musical. Don’t let this resume cause trepidation; it turns out that Horn is very funny and has a sharp understanding of how to fashion his libretto. Laughter—from dialogue, lyrics, sight gags, choreography, and even costumes—keeps coming.
[Read Melissa Rose Bernardo’s ★★★★ review here.]
That Tootsie is laugh-filled is not exactly surprising, given the supremely funny 1982 motion picture from which the musical has sprung. That’s the one in which perennially out-of-work actor Michael Dorsey finds himself auditioning for the role of a nurse on one of those hospital soap operas of the time. He—or rather she, now in the persona of Dorothy Michaels—gets the part. The film is marvelously contrived and successful on all levels. At least by 1982 terms.
By present-day standards, though, the original plot is problematic. The notion of an assertively aggressive and chauvinistic man masquerading in a dress and taking a job from a woman is, nowadays, less than amusing. Even more treacherous are repeated instances of male behavior that would get a current-day studio executive or corporate leader fired. (A powerful politician, not necessarily.) Once in a dress, the film Dorothy was propositioned by most everybody. “She” fought them off, and it was all played for laughs. Today, though, it’s no laughing matter.
Rather than simply trying to recreate the film with tempered sexism, Horn and Yazbek—recognizing the danger—have instead taken the gist of the plot and refashioned it. The soap opera milieu has been replaced by a Broadway musical, understandably so as it allows considerable dancing. More specifically, the constant instances of men hitting on Dorothy have been whittled to one, haplessly hangdog suitor. An important and tender film subplot, in which the father of the leading lady falls in love with and proposes to Dorothy, is gone altogether.
The result is that the plot gears work satisfactorily for today’s audiences, retaining the high jinks and gibes from Larry Gelbart’s screenplay while hopefully avoiding offense. (A significant portion of the audience early in the run is likely to be familiar with the original, and perhaps miss some highlights; but the vast Broadway audience, nowadays, is likely unfamiliar with the film.) Director Scott Ellis (Kiss Me, Kate) has smoothly wrapped this musical comedy package, while Denis Jones (Honeymoon in Vegas) provides the sterling choreography. A dance combination from the show-within-the-show’s director/choreographer—“bounce bounce bounce bounce, Fosse arm, Fosse arm” etc.—is so outlandishly successful that they manically repeat it several times. Word to the wise: don’t rush out early in the curtain call.
David Rockwell (Hairspray) provides the versatile set design, while William Ivey Long (The Producers, Hairspray) outdoes himself with gloriously garish ’50s garb for the musicalized Romeo and Juliet. Orchestrations are by Simon Hale (from Yazbek’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), and they perfectly highlight the score. Andrea Grody leads the band with aplomb and hair bouncing in the orchestra pit, giving audiences a chance to actually see her after being restricted to a backstage bandbox at The Band’s Visit. For what it’s worth, Grody is the one and only non-male on the creative team of this musical celebrating empowerment.
The cast is led by Santino Fontana (Cinderella, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend). The actor has displayed so much talent over his career that you might well walk in expecting him to shine in the role. He does not disappoint: His acting, singing, and charm allow him to carry the show with the ease of a young Jerry Orbach. We also get welcome glimpses of Dustin Hoffman, who was intrinsically intertwined with the cinema creation of Michael/Dorothy. There is a leading lady on hand, portrayed by Lilli Cooper (SpongeBob Squarepants). Given that she doesn’t have high-comedy material and certain facets of her screen character have been whittle down, she can’t quite compete with the others.
Fontana is given two altogether perfect foils. Sarah Stiles, a Tony nominee for Hand to God, plays Michael’s non-girlfriend Sandy and is letter perfect. Yazbek starts her off with a rapid-fire song called “What’s Gonna Happen”—a cousin to the “Model Behavior” that Laura Benanti romped through in Women on the Verge—and Stiles can thereafter do no wrong. Andy Grotelueschen (of the 2015 Roundabout Into the Woods) makes an amusing best friend until Yazbek allows him to explode with a showstopper of his own (“Jeff Sums It Up”) at the top of the second act.
Two veteran character comedians also shine. Reg Rogers plays director/choreographer Ron Carlisle, a newly conceived role replacing what had been the TV director. Rogers plays him as a narcissist at the end of his rope and is altogether droll. Michael McGrath is hardly visible as the agent Stan Fields, but he is a one-man comedy powerhouse and his limited stage time pays off. His “take” as he puzzles over the uncanny similarities between Michael and Dorothy is protean, so much so that you wonder if the folks over at Hamilton hear the explosion of laughter. (I suppose we could call this a “door-take,” as McGrath somehow fuels and extends the stream of laughter by hiding behind a door.)
Is this a potential addition to the list of classic Broadway musicals? No; but Tootsie is fast and funny. Very funny, with a rapid stream of jokes and gags and some of the most mirthful choreography since those Mormon boys went to Uganda. Plus, it’s got no fewer than five skillful comedy performances. After months in the mirthless Broadway musical desert, let’s be appreciative of the evening’s accomplishments.
Tootsie opened April 23, 2019, at the Marquis Theatre and runs through January 5, 2020. Tickets and information: tootsiemusical.com
