SOME LIKE IT HOT On Broadway - Reviews & News Thread — Page 19

I saw this last night and enjoyed it well enough. It reminded me a lot of Bullets Over Broadway, but with an original score. I also enjoyed Bullets Over Broadway a lot more. The show is extremely slick, shiny, and polished - sometimes a little too much so. The cast is really great. The score is good, but a little monotonous with most numbers being indistinguishable from the others. I also felt like Sugar had too many ballads.

The set is nice and handsome enough, but I really don't understand why they had some of the band members on the upstage platform. Lighting and costumes are top notch. The choreography is fun and high energy, but it reaches a point where enough is enough (especially the tapping). The whole show has the feel of a big splashy old fashioned musical comedy, but I just can't say I loved it as much as I wanted to.

I think my main problem with the show is that it's just repetitive in many ways - the score, the design, the choreography. I kept waiting for something new and surprising to happen, but the show just trots along at a leisurely pace without ever really taking off. It's just nothing I haven't seen done before on Broadway, and, in many cases, done in more exciting ways.

All that being said, I would give it a solid three stars. Not bad by any means, in fact, I would even say it's GOOD. However, it's just not GREAT.

I went last night and found so many things wrong with this musical that I actually wrote it up in my blog:

https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2022/11/some-like-it-corny.html

What a night! Before the show there was a small cocktail party across from the theater at the Shubert private apartment.

Lots of famous face and Marc Shaiman even performed the title song....

We got tickets for today's matinee through TDF.

We were sitting in the orchestra and enjoyed it. The performances were excellent.

They could have shaved 10 minutes off.

Updated On: 11/19/22 at 05:41 PM

ShowBro said: "The producers can throw a show pre-party for “NYC tastemakers and celebs” but won’t throw an opening night party for their own dedicated company and crew.

SMDH, what an embarrassment!"

Seems like a slight to cast/crew to not throw traditional opening night bash, if thats what you're saying is happening, but business-wise, the a party for tastemakers in NYC makes a hella lot more sense and I'd imagine if they had to choose, the cast/crew would rather the show run long-term than not.

They could also cut down the run time by making intermission the standard 15 mins. Not sure why it’s 20+ when act 2 stars with everyone in the same set as position and before

I've seen a lot of musical flops on Broadway (Tuck Everlasting, Dr. Zhivago, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, ect.) but I think this might be the worst one yet. I cannot reccomend buying a ticket to this show under any circumstances. Review from showscore below:


See it if If you HAVE to see how they re-work “Let’s Be Bad” from Smash (2012) into this show at all costs.

Don't see it if If you don’t want a show where the creative team took the phrase “Let’s be Bad” literally.

Also Claims to be a musical comedy, but the script and score are not funny in the slightest. Desperate to be “woke,” but actually has nothing interesting to say on gender, queerness, sexism, or racism. A dramaturgical mess. Has absolutely no sense of time or place. The characters are all two dimensional. The show has no stakes. A complete miss in every way.

Michelle Birnbaum said: "

It currently has a score of 84 on Show Score."

That seems like a pretty average score. Both Death of a Salesman & A Strange Loop also are scored at 84, while Chicago, Beetlejuice​​​​​, & The Piano Lesson are all at 83.

I really don't know how useful the scores there are. I find you need to read the actual reviews & try to get a feel for whether or not each writer's sensibilities align with your own.
Edit: This is why I find using this board more helpful. Over the years of reading you get a better feel for each reviewer/poster. For example, for myself when I see that many people here are jumping on the bandwagon for some little show that is doing poorly financially & saying how marvelous it is (I really don't want to pick on any specific show, but let's use KPOP as an example) I know without a doubt that I can readily skip seeing that show.

Updated On: 11/20/22 at 09:14 AM

Saw the show last night, and loved it. Thought it was fantastic!

nealb1 said: "Saw the show last night, and loved it. Thought it was fantastic!"

Our neighbors saw it last night and raved about it LOVED and said it's going to be a Big Hit!

PipingHotPiccolo said: "christinelavin said: "Am I misunderstanding something here? This musical is still a work-in-progress. I know firsthand because I have seen it a number of times and have been witness to costume changes, dialogue changes, reworked scenes -- it hasn't been "frozen" yet, so why do some write as if it is?"

Anyone that paid money to sit and watch this show in a Broadway theater can report back what they experienced, and so many of us did. As simple as that."

This show will not improve post previews as fundamentally it is a disaster. It does not work on any level. I am in the industry and have been in the previews stage of a new musical before. Things may get tweaked, performances may be tightened, but the core of the show itself will not change.

I am just providing my opinion on the piece. It’s ironic that someone is now criticizing me for criticizing the show. Art is meant to be critiqued. I’m only disappointed the show was bad because I love musical theater and really want new work (especially work that has made it to Broadway) to be good. Believe it or not I don’t enjoy seeing things that are not of the caliber they should be.


Also to touch on what you said about this changing the mind of the far right, I disagree fundamentally there as well. First of all almost no one on the far right will ever see this show. It is at best pandering to an audience that already agrees with it. At worst it is offensive to those in the trans community who actually see it as quite regressive. It is “woke” only because they think that will get people to buy a ticket. It is constantly patting itself on the back for how progressive it is towards trans people, black people, and women, despite the fact that 4 out of the 5 people on the creative team are none of those things. It is two and a half hours of talking points with nothing progressive or interesting to say. It’s not funny or entertaining either. As a piece of art it is completely hollow. I find that so disheartening which is why I wanted to share my initial thoughts here in the first place.

Broadwaybaby332 said:

I am just providing my opinion on the piece. It’s ironic that someone is now criticizing me for criticizing the show. Art is meant to be critiqued. I’m only disappointed the show was bad because I love musical theater and really want new work (especially work that has made it to Broadway) to be good. Believe it or not I don’t enjoy seeing things that are not of the caliber they should be."

Agreed and well said. I cant wrap my head around the concept that a paying audience should "forgive" a bad performance/score because its "still previews." BY ALL MEANS charge half price if you want us to watch you rehearse, and see who shows up, but for $200 a pop, I'm not gonna be shy.

THAT SAID- interesting to watch how the initial adulation for this show is turning into disappointment. To each their own, and I certainly am one who often finds myself rolling my eyes at stuff everyone else seems to love, but it does seem like I saw a different show than others did. We can disagree over whether the score works (we agree the ballads dont) and I totally get that the excessive tap numbers might irritate some, but not funny? Not witty? The audience at the performance I attended was genuinely hollering with laughter at all of Borle's and Natasha Yvette Williams' shtick, and the place went totally crazy for J Harrison Ghee.

Without the right reviews (and I can see critics being cold to this) the show's success is up in the air, but suggestions that audiences arent enjoying it just dont hold much water.