Christian Borle (left) and J. Harrison Ghee (proper) turn into Josephine and Daphne, respectively, in "Some Like It Scorching" on Broadway.
Marc J. Franklin
Gents desire … the film.
The wobbly high quality of the brand new Broadway musical “Some Like It Scorching,” which opened Sunday night time on the Shubert Theatre, is made rather more apparent by the indeniable greatness of its supply materials.
SOME LIKE IT HOT
Two hour and half-hour, with one intermission. On the Shubert Theatre, 225 W forty fourth Road.
The 1959 Marilyn Monroe movie is likely one of the greatest comedies of all time. And, so, as solely Broadway is aware of tips on how to do, it has churned out a principally charmless song-and-dance model of a beloved title.
Nonetheless, even should you go in completely chilly — “Who’s Jack Lemmon?” God forbid — the present nonetheless disappoints as a stand-alone piece of theater.
The repetitive songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman gnaw on the ears, there aren’t sufficient huge laughs in Matthew Lopez and Amber Ruffin’s guide and the revised ending, through which a personality questions their gender identification, feels neither sincere nor pure, however as if it’s been exhaustively focus-grouped to keep away from Twitter backlash. (And, after the “Tootsie” fracas again in 2018, it in all probability was.)
“Some Like It Scorching” quantities to yet one more man-in-a-dress musical that’s not as tuneful, transferring or hilarious as “La Cage aux Folles.” When musicians Joe (Christian Borle) and Jerry (J. Harrison Ghee) first don frocks and wigs to disguise themselves whereas on the run, there's a collective exasperation of “You once more?”
The 2 penniless bums wind up in girls’s apparel after they witness an organized crime hit in Chicago throughout the Nineteen Thirties. Fearing for his or her lives, they get all dolled up, hop aboard the practice to California and be a part of a touring all-female band known as Candy Sue’s Society Syncopators. Joe and Jerry aren't any extra — now they’re Josephine and Daphne. And their final objective is to cross the border to Mexico to keep away from being offed.
As Josephine, Borle slaps on some glasses and makes use of a Midwestern brogue that additionally conjures Mira Sorvino in “Romy and Michele’s Excessive Faculty Reunion.” A working gag that Josephine appears outdated — offending Joe — is humorous. However the smirky efficiency is simply too tongue-in-cheek to be plausible.
Ghee, filled with charisma, fares higher as Daphne. The actor has a extra emotional storyline than an uproarious one and their huge quantity “You Might’ve Knocked Me Over With a Feather” is expressive and thrilling, even when it sounds rather a lot like “Large, Blonde and Stunning” from Shaiman and Wittman’s “Hairspray.”
On board the practice, the duo meet Sugar Cane (Adrianna Hicks), the Syncopators’ singer, and womanizing Joe struggles to tamp down his libido whereas in drag. Enjoying Sugar, Hicks has a strong voice, however Monroe’s je ne sais quois is missed. A lot of the character, we notice, was Monroe’s iconic character — and with out it there’s not a lot left besides the script not figuring out what to do with Sugar’s consuming downside.
Through the first act, particularly, Shaiman and Wittman’s spinoff jazz rating pummels you with generic-ness and quantity. Each track feels like a shouted model of “Honey Bun” from “South Pacific.” Tune titles like “Vamp!” and “Zee Bap” scream in our faces like unhinged lunatics on Eighth Avenue, and the duo behind “Hairspray” has seemingly misplaced the flexibility to seek out jokes and develop characters with their music.
They finish the primary half with their track “Let’s Be Dangerous” from TV’s “Smash,” which, lest we overlook, was a humongous flop for NBC.
In Act 2, the band arrives at a grand lodge in California. And, come to think about it, “Some Like It Scorching” would profit from a director-choreographer like Tommy Tune of “Grand Resort,” who is aware of tips on how to creatively profit from a bar or a bellhop. Director Casey Nicholaw doesn’t and, due to this fact, packs in unmotivated faucet dancing anyplace he can. At first the faucet is dazzling, however the shimmer fades to monotony. Scott Pask’s metallic interval set is Artwork Meh-co.
The West Coast antics are supposed to be farcical. Daphne results in a flirtation with the rich Osgood (Kevin Del Aguila) and Jerry adopts a 3rd persona as a German movie producer to woo Sugar. Nicholaw tacks on a protracted madcap “Benny Hill” chase sequence close to the tip with gangsters, cops and the band that’s logistically spectacular however hardly hysterical. Act 2, for all its plot issues, is eerily calm.
The funniest individuals within the present, truly, are NaTashha Yvette Williams as Candy Sue and Angie Schworer because the Society Syncopators’ supervisor of kinds. Kudos to them, however their prodigious talent and knack for a punchline underlines the lead actors’ missing materials.
I’ve heard “Some Like It Scorching” described rather a lot as an “old school musical comedy.” And, sure, it positive feels outdated. However the reveals that these people are referencing, and that this musical aspires to be — “Guys and Dolls,” “The Music Man,” “Something Goes” — sparked with innovation of their time (and, ya know, had sturdy scores and books).
In contrast to “Some,” they have been sizzling.
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