Warning: there are spoilers in this review if you are going to see this show at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre. Keep that in mind or maybe go see the show because of them and draw your own conclusions. Anyone who buys a full price ticket is certainly getting their money’s worth and more. This show begins on a super charged production number and stays at that level for the entirety of the show. There is a great deal to recommend it, not the least of which is the high-octane performances from all involved.
The First National Touring Company of SOME LIKE IT HOT – Photo by Matthew Murphy.
Direction and choreography from Casey Nicholaw is fast paced and tight. The scenes move quickly like the turning of a page and the set adapts through split-timed transitions. All smooth and elegantly done with no loss of energy or focus. This is due to the fantastic scenic design by Scott Pask in tandem with the brilliant lighting design by Natasha Katz. Their work is a one-two punch of setting the moods and delivering the emotional state of the show – all in service of the actors of course. The third party responsible for the ‘look’ and ‘feel’ of the show is Gregg Barnes for costume design. The lines and cut of every costume is bespoke and moves beautifully throughout the marathon of movement that is the show. Each detail reads from the stage and culminates in a feast for the eyes. The costumes for the ensemble men as porters at the train station or bellhops at the Hotel Del Coronado are fabulous! The hats and material compliment and make the men pop from the background sets. We see every step, every slide, every gesture. The ensemble women are just as gorgeously attired whether in rehearsal garb a’la 1920’s or in their uniforms in the all-female band. The skirts moved well in all of the tapping numbers and the patterns for the tops were all different but spot on for the period. It is 1933 in Chicago and San Diego. The tap numbers in the show are fun and old-time hoof’in. An entire cast pounding the floorboards is an electrifying spectacle. There is also a colorful tango number which takes place in Mexico. It turns out Osgood III owns a nightclub in Tijuana.
Tommy Sutter (Ensemble), Jay Owens (Ensemble), Jamie LaVerdiere (Mulligan), and Devon Goffman (Spats) in SOME LIKE IT HOT – Photo by Matthew Murphy.
Now to the storyline in terms of Comedy versus Drama. The Greeks kept these separate and for good reason. I understand that “Some Like It Hot” needed to be upgraded for today’s audiences, and the differences in today’s society acknowledged and addressed. Because of these additions I believe this musical version is closer to a Dramedy. The film was made in 1959 and challenged the sexual code in the movies at that time. “During a time when America criminalized all homosexual activities and forms of queer expression, the 1959 film “Some Like It Hot” broke free of the conservative constraints of the Hays Code and presented a film featuring crossdressing, sexual fluidity and tolerance to homosexuality” (Wikipedia). Interestingly the state of Kansas banned the movie for its cross-dressing content. It should be noted here that the character of Osgood III is not homosexual, and neither are Joe or Jerry when the show opens.
Edward Juvier (Osgood) and the First National Touring Company in SOME LIKE IT HOT – Photo by Matthew Murphy.
In the middle of Act II Jerry/Daphne has a coming out number, “You Coulda Knocked Me Over With A Feather”. In this number Jerry confesses to Joe that Daphne really is a part of his character and true to who he/she is. This is poignant and honest and vulnerable and suddenly all of the comedy goes out the window as we feel for this person undergoing this realization in such an inhospitable time and place. We worry and share in his/her angst. Billy Wilder knew what he was doing when he had Daphne accept Osgood’s proposal of marriage even though he was not Homosexual or Transgender. When asked by Joe, “Why would a guy want to marry a guy?” Jerry does not hesitate but answers: “Security!”. This is very funny coming from a bit player musician on the run from the mob and living hand-to-mouth on freelance gigs. But with Jerry’s confession in this musical update, the comedy of a straight man masquerading as a woman while running away from the mob is rendered null and void. Now we are caught up in a scenario of a man realizing his truth of inner self and wondering how he/she will continue through life not only hunted by the mob but ostracized by their own society. Joe has his own number where he comes clean to Sugar. It is: “He Lied When He Said Hello”. Joe has fallen in love with Sugar and wants her to know the truth about how he feels for her, but he is masquerading as two different people trying to get close to her. He finally reveals and explains himself to her, giving her the chance to forgive him, or not, for his subterfuge. This does not happen with Jerry and Osgood. Although Jerry tells Joe he is really Daphne, he neglects to tell Osgood that he is really a man. Daphne and Osgood plan their wedding and that is where the show ends. Unfortunately, Osgood is preparing marriage with Jerry without ever realizing Daphne is a ‘he’. For this reviewer this is a huge hole in the storyline. Wilder handled this brilliantly by ending the movie with an exchange between Daphne and Osgood, Jerry: ”You don’t understand, Osgood! Ah, I’m a man.” Osgood: “Well, nobody’s perfect”. This sums up Osgood’s ever optimistic view on life in a funny exchange and also comments on the Hays Code of the 1950’s as outdated and no longer applicable. Also, Osgood has been married a few times before and through his eccentricity we can extrapolate that because his past marriages to women have failed, maybe marrying a man is the answer. This falls perfectly in line with Websters’ definition of Humor: “that quality which appeals to a sense of the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous : a funny or amusing quality”.
Matt Loehr (Joe), Leandra Ellis-Gaston (Sugar), Tavis Kordell (Jerry) and the First National Touring Company of SOME LIKE IT HOT – Photo by Matthew Murphy.
The only caveat I have for the show is its relentless pace. There are three numbers in the show that start out as ballads. It is necessary to have a break for our senses in digesting all that is happening throughout the show. These numbers though do not maintain their status as ballads, but they all break out and become production numbers. Just when I thought I would get an intimate insight into the different characters singing these numbers, they turned the juice on and blasted out another production number. I would have liked to have sat with Jerry/Daphne’s coming out to Joe and had a moment to process all that it entailed in terms of arc of storyline and growth of characters. But the big production numbers buried it. This is too bad as we are cheering on the honest development of both Joe and Jerry up until that point. It would be a nasty revelation to Osgood to find out the person he married is not the sex he thought they were.
Leandra Ellis-Gaston (Sugar) and Matt Loehr (Joe) in SOME LIKE IT HOT – Photo by Matthew Murphy.
By the way, Edward Juvier as Osgood is fantastic! He balances his frivolity with concern and delivers a deceptively deep Osgood in spite of the silliness of the role. He is honest and unguarded, and that quality makes us pay attention when so many others around him are guarding their secret selves. Ironically, he stands out as childlike and endearing. Matt Loehr as Joe/Josephine is extremely energetic and reads as a con-man caught in one of his own scams. He carries the show. There are many one-liners having to do with his age which is interesting given that he reads much older than Tavis Kordell as Jerry/Daphne. Kordell does excellent work as Jerry, initially not even interested in hiding in drag to elude the Mob. Once he does though, he is fabulous! Tapping in every number in his heels, head and shoulders above the rest, his emotional growth goes hand-in-hand with the arc of the show. We want him/her to find their place and that is why the ending is unsatisfactory. Daphne’s happiness is a question mark. Tarra Conner Jones as Sweet Sue is very funny with a great voice and brings the period to life in her observations and commentary. She always has a sharp word for everyone, and her sarcasm is on the mark. Leandra Ellis-Gaston as Sugar does a great job of balancing out all of the shenanigans going on around her. She plays the straight man to their comics and never looks naïve or gullible. Her dancing is formidable and her voice clean and clear. I only wish she could have played out her ballad in all of its emotional angst. It seemed as if the powers that be were afraid of letting the energy drop for just a second. What was not understood was that the energy does not drop in a ballad – it changes. Think of Judy Garland singing “The Man That Got Away” in “A Star is Born”. The Ensemble is very capable and throw themselves into the numbers singing and dancing themselves silly. They must lose ten pounds every show. They hold the whole show together and allow us, the audience, to scan the stage and see all focused and delivering no matter where we look. They are a very cohesive and talented group. As I said, though not without its faults, this show has much to recommend itself.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the Hollywood Pantages Theatre’s website.
Written by Brian Fretté for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: The First National Touring Company of SOME LIKE IT HOT – Photo by Matthew Murphy.
