Hello, theatre friends!

Welcome to my first Broadway review (but definitely not the last). This was a fun one!

So, Some Like it Hot may be one of the most “Broadway” Broadway musicals I’ve ever seen. It’s a large-scale, glitzy, Art Deco, tap-dancing extravaganza. It’s highly entertaining.

Some Like it Hot is based on the 50s Marilyn Monroe movie, with some small plot tweaks and an entirely new score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman. The plot is simple but delightful. The general premise is that two men dress up as women in order to hide from the mob. The joke of men dressing up as women is definitely one-note, and perhaps not as funny as it was 50 years ago, but this show adds a new layer: one of the men discovers through this charade that he is actually more comfortable living as a she. It was very tastefully (and beautifully) done, and this performance rightfully won J. Harrison Ghee the Tony for Best Leading Actor.

While Some Like it Hot is a new musical, the music feels like it was plucked right out of the 1920s/30s. Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman also wrote the music for Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can, and the TV show Smash (an adaptation of which is coming to Broadway next season). In fact, the Some Like it Hot music sounds indistinguishably similar to the music written for the fictitious Marilyn Monroe musical, “Bombshell”, that was featured in the TV show Smash. The composers even reused a song from that show – “Let’s Be Bad” – in Some Like it Hot. Granted, it’s a good song. Overall, the music is comforting in the way that old jazz standards can be, but most of the songs blended together. The lead actress, Adrianna Hicks, had a bunch of solo numbers that all sounded great, but sort of said the same thing, so it seemed a bit superfluous. I’m not sure if each song served a narrative purpose, but they were all pretty and I really liked the title number of the show (also called “Some Like it Hot”).

The music is great, the performances are great, the singing is great, the acting is great. It’s Broadway – I’d be surprised if anyone was just “ok.” J. Harrison Ghee as Jerry/Daphne was the star by far. Miles and miles above everyone else. For the other lead role – Joe/Josephine – I saw the understudy, Casey Garvin. He did a wonderful job, and his dancing in particular was strong. There were a bunch of jokes written about how old Joe/Josephine looks, which probably work better when the original lead, Christian Borle, is playing the role, but I still found them funny.

The best part of this show is by far the choreography by Casey Nicholaw. It is marvelous, creative, energetic. There was a tap dance chase scene in the second act that was one of my favourite scenes I’ve ever seen on Broadway. It’s old-school Broadway through and through.

So, to reuse a word I’ve said a million times in this write-up, Some Like it Hot is great. It’s fun, it’s funny, it’s glamorous…it’s solid, and was very well executed. It’s not edgy and I don’t think it’s game-changing, but if you’re a fan of classic Broadway sparkle, you can’t go wrong. Some musicals that live in a similar world to this one are Thoroughly Modern Millie and The Drowsy Chaperone. You’ll definitely have a fun time. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I don’t have too much to write because, well, it wasn’t as memorable as some other shows I’ve seen.

A word for the wise, though: I was totally shell-shocked by the price of a drink at this theatre. With tax and tip, a glass of wine came to $35. Don’t make this mistake. We all deserve better.

Some Like it Hot is playing at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway. You can grab tickets from their official website here. Tip: never use Broadway.com for tickets – it looks like an official website, but it’s actually just a ticket reseller that charges high fees.

Featured image: Somelikeithot.com