SOME LIKE IT HOT On Broadway - Reviews & News Thread- Page 5

[Robbie2]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 5:52pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "The rumor on here has been that this will play the Shubert this fall after POTUS."

I'm hearing the Shubert as well from my industry friends November previews - early December opening

Updated On: 3/1/22 at 05:52 PM

[matty159]

Posted: 3/1/22 at 6:59pm

Tag said: "I thought "Discussions of off-stage events, rumors or hearsay are not permitted" so why would this cast be leaked by Broadwayworld?"

I’m not sure how this would apply to this. It may be a sticky wicket, unless you have to sign a NDA when arriving at the workshop. I have tickets to next Monday’s workshop (and I am by no means an insider…got tickets through a lottery from a lottery emailed to me by Telecharge). The email specifically said they were doing this as opposed to going “out of town”. I’m assuming the way they are doing this is to stir up buzz.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 8:45am

As some of you may know, I'm "in with the kids" on TikTok. One thing that was mentioned on there was the fact that with all the contravorsy surrounding Doubtfire and Tootsie with the "man in a dress" plot point, why are we still going ahead with this show? 

Also, why 'Some Like It Hot"? Why not "Connie and Carla"? 

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 9:39am

"Why are we still going ahead with this show?"

Because creatives are getting woke to the fact that identitarian discourse being the bottom line is a zero sum game that does nothing but flatten art into bland, generic monoculture that tries, and never succeeds, to please everyone. 

If the Tik Tok Pura-Teens are upset about this, they can do what artists do and CREATE ART THAT IS AN ENTERTAINING AND PROVOCATIVE RESPONSE.  But most of them are not artists of any significance and never will be so at the end of the day they're just snivellers with too much time on their hands.

Updated On: 3/2/22 at 09:39 AM

[ivy3]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 11:29am

"man in a dress" is a flawed generalization IMO. 

I found Tootsie problematic, after all it was about a man dressing as a woman to get a job. I think Doubtfire was okay because it is about a father in disguise to see his kids. Context matters IMO. Some like it hot is about two men hiding from a mob disguised as women. In that context, how is that different than night club singer hiding as a nun in a convent?

Also with that generalization, are we now against all "man in dress"? Wouldn't that also mean no Hairspray, no Kinky Boots, and so on? 

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 11:34am

ivy3 said: "Also with that generalization, are we now against all "man in dress"? Wouldn't that also mean no Hairspray, no Kinky Boots, and so on?"

I think that's exactly what these internet children are advocating. If HAIRSPRAY opened in 2022, I think it would have a really hard time opening with a man playing Edna, despite Divine setting the precedent. And the show might not have worked as well with a woman as Edna. (Though Harvey very publicly advocated for someone like Lainie Kazan to replace him as Edna, and then the show could have gone in either direction after that or switched between men and women.)

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 11:47am

And doesn’t one of the two “men in drag” wind up discovering a certain level of actual gender and sexual fluidity while assuming the role? 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 11:54am

As we know, it's all about context. TOOTSIE failed because the show didn't connect with mass audiences and was not actually very good (despite the critical acclaim). Internet chatter does not significantly permeate beyond the walls of Twitter, which is a tiny bubble of people who aren't buying full-price tickets.

DOUBTFIRE learned from TOOTSIE and had trans consultants and in general is more palatable as the story of "guy who wants to spend time with his kids and improve his life" instead of "male actor can't get a job so he pretends to be a woman." It, like TOOTSIE, is struggling because it has a bad score, a not-great book, and it's dealing with the looming iconography of Robin Williams.

SOME LIKE IT HOT might –– or might not –– have the benefit of being the third of such musicals, and it has already anticipated some problems by hiring a Black woman as co-bookwriter, in addition to its gay male creative team (Lopez, Shaiman, Wittman, Nicholaw, Meron). We know from Hairspray and The Prom that this team has great compassion towards issues of race and sexuality. One of the three leads of the workshop is non-binary (J. Harrison Ghee), and two are Black. None of this means it's guaranteed to be a hit. But I have MUCH more optimism about this than about Doubtfire's ability to rebound.

Updated On: 3/2/22 at 11:54 AM

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 2:31pm

fashionguru_23 said: "Also, why 'Some Like It Hot"? Why not "Connie and Carla"?"

You know why and I love you for this terrible take

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 12:19am

A spectator of the workshop said that during act 2 “Let’s Be Bad” from Bombshell as seen on Smash is performed. 

Now, don’t get me wrong I love the song. But this sounds a little… lazy to me? I get the Marilyn connection, but I thought Sugar was going in a different direction as a character? Guess they couldn’t top it. It’s a great song for sure! 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 12:28am

This show will flop with a capital "F."

"Man wears dress" is no longer a trope, it is highly offensive in 2022. And with no big names attached in the cast, this has no hope of surviving long-term at the Shubert this fall. Only the local, niche theatre crowd will come for Nicholaw's direction, Shaiman and Wittman's score, Christian Borle, and Brandon Victor Dixon. 

It's a miracle Mrs. Doubtfire is trying to stick it out until August. 

Updated On: 3/3/22 at 12:28 AM

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 1:01am

It’s one of the biggest film titles of all time. You’re underestimating that for the sake of making your already wavy argument. 

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 1:30am

Borstalboy said: If the Tik Tok Pura-Teens are upset about this, they can do what artists do and CREATE ART THAT IS AN ENTERTAINING AND PROVOCATIVE RESPONSE. But most of them are not artists of any significance and never will be so at the end of the day they're just snivellers with too much time on their hands."

^^That part.
Thank you.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 1:33am

BroadwayNYC2 said: "It’s one of the biggest film titles of all time. You’re underestimating that for the sake of making your already wavy argument."

Doesn’t mean it will succeed on stage though. How’d Spider-Man turn out?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 2:30am

Can't imagine this will be a hit. And will Casey use tap dancing as gay joke? 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 7:48am

BroadwayNYC2 said: "It’s one of the biggest film titles of all time. You’re underestimating that for the sake of making your already wavy argument."

Exactly. I am so sick of the "a man wearing a dress is highly offensive" argument. It perfectly illustrates some people's desire to be offended by everything.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 8:44am

You’re allowed to not want to see something, but to assert THIS WILL FAIL because you want it to, just ain’t grounded in reality. 

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 8:49am

EDSOSLO858 said: ""Man wears dress" is no longer a trope, it is highly offensive in 2022."

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 9:21am

I like the idea of "Lets Be Bad" being in the show.  The Bombshell sound is actually perfect for the story.  Hell, I wouldn't mind if they put in "They Just Keep Moving The Line".

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 10:53am

I don’t find the use of any Bombshell songs lazy, at all. At least they’ll be used in a theatrical production and context. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 11:25am

Exactly. I am so sick of the "a man wearing a dress is highly offensive" argument. It perfectly illustrates some people's desire to be offended by everything."

100%

 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 3:23pm

I think what's wearing is also the fact that it's the same threat over and over played for comedy "if they find out I'm actually a guy then-" 

when that threat in real life is actually not funny. It's less "man in dress" isn't funny, it's "man getting caught for wearing a dress" is not funny. 

Hairspray works cause it's a drag performance and everyone in the story accepts the reality that she is Edna and there's nothing else to question.

These movies like Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire, Some Like it Hot-it's fair to call them classics cause of other elements besides "man in dress funny" like the performances, certain iconic sequences and for Some Like it Hot- the actual Marilyn Monroe.

But they were made when they were made. To bring this story back in this current time, the question forever is why? 

Are we incapable of telling new funny stories with men in dresses that feel actually applicable to today's society? At least Kinky Boots dared to do this. Why do we need to keep showing a straight man getting away with murder in drag? 

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 3:55pm

Something tells me it might a little more complicated than that. 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 4:04pm

Borstalboy said: "Something tells me it might a little more complicated than that."

I mean I was speaking in hyperbole. But hey, it contributes.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 4:13pm

BCfitasafiddle said: "A spectator of the workshop said that during act 2 “Let’s Be Bad” from Bombshell as seen on Smash is performed. Now, don’t get me wrong I love the song. But this sounds a little… lazy to me? I get the Marilyn connection, but I thought Sugar was going in a different direction as a character? Guess they couldn’t top it. It’s a great song for sure!"

I wonder if this could just be a placeholder? It might be that the song in that position doesn't work but they didn't have time to write a new one, so you slot in one that serves a similar purpose instead of pausing and saying "and now X performs a song." It being a diegetic vs non-diegetic song might also be a factor in what direction Sugar is going in.

Plenty of composers have reused their own songs, including Jerry Herman (parts of MACK & MABEL are repurposed from SUGAR, his own Some Like It Hot adaptation from which David Merrick fired him). And "Showtune" is the same as "It's Today." But I agree it's slightly more jarring when the song has been performed on television was part of another project.