{"id":525379,"date":"2022-12-12T06:03:41","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T03:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/broadways-latest-drag-musical-is-tepid\/"},"modified":"2022-12-12T06:03:41","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T03:03:41","slug":"broadways-latest-drag-musical-is-tepid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/broadways-latest-drag-musical-is-tepid\/","title":{"rendered":"#Broadway&#8217;s latest drag musical is tepid"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28bb45cbc79\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28bb45cbc79\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/broadways-latest-drag-musical-is-tepid\/#%E2%80%9CBroadways_latest_drag_musical_is_tepid%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Broadway&#8217;s latest drag musical is tepid&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CBroadways_latest_drag_musical_is_tepid%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Broadway&#8217;s latest drag musical is tepid&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>Gentlemen prefer \u2026 the movie.<\/p>\n<p>The wobbly quality of the new Broadway musical \u201cSome Like It Hot,\u201d which opened Sunday night at the Shubert Theatre, is made much more obvious by the indisputable greatness of its source material.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n        <span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow widget-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n            Theater review      <\/span><\/p>\n<p>        Two hour and 30 minutes, with one intermission. At the Shubert Theatre, 225 W 44th Street.\n    <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The 1959 Marilyn Monroe film is one of the best comedies of all time. And, so, as only Broadway knows how to do, it has churned out a mostly charmless song-and-dance version of a beloved title.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, even if you go in totally cold \u2014 \u201cWho\u2019s Jack Lemmon?\u201d God forbid \u2014 the show still dis<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>oints as a stand-alone piece of theater.<\/p>\n<p>The repetitive songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman gnaw on the ears, there aren\u2019t enough big laughs in Matthew Lopez and Amber Ruffin\u2019s book and the revised ending, in which a character questions their gender identity, feels neither honest nor natural, but as if it\u2019s been exhaustively focus-grouped to avoid <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> backlash. (And, after the \u201cTootsie\u201d fracas back in 2018, it probably was.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome Like It Hot\u201d amounts to yet another man-in-a-dress musical that\u2019s not as tuneful, moving or hilarious as \u201cLa Cage aux Folles.\u201d When musicians Joe (Christian Borle) and Jerry (J. Harrison Ghee) first don frocks and wigs to disguise themselves while on the run, there is a collective exasperation of \u201cYou again?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/some-like-it-hot-broadway-4.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Daphne and Josephine join Sweet Sue's (Natasha Yvette Williams) Society Syncopators.\" class=\"wp-image-24976441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/some-like-it-hot-broadway-4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/some-like-it-hot-broadway-4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/some-like-it-hot-broadway-4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Daphne and Josephine join Sweet Sue\u2019s (NaTasha Yvette Williams) Society Syncopators.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Marc J. Franklin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The two penniless bums wind up in women\u2019s attire after they witness an organized crime hit in Chicago during the 1930s. Fearing for their lives, they get all dolled up, hop aboard the train to California and join a touring all-female band called Sweet Sue\u2019s Society Syncopators. Joe and Jerry are no more \u2014 now they\u2019re Josephine and Daphne. And their ultimate goal is to cross the border to Mexico to avoid being offed.<\/p>\n<p>As Josephine, Borle slaps on some glasses and uses a Midwestern brogue that also conjures Mira Sorvino in \u201cRomy and Michele\u2019s High School Reunion.\u201d A running gag that Josephine looks old \u2014 offending Joe \u2014 is funny. But the smirky performance is too tongue-in-cheek to be believable.<\/p>\n<p>Ghee, full of charisma, fares better as Daphne. The actor has a more emotional storyline than an uproarious one and their big number \u201cYou Could\u2019ve Knocked Me Over With a Feather\u201d is expressive and exciting, even if it sounds a lot like \u201cBig, Blonde and Beautiful\u201d from Shaiman and Wittman\u2019s \u201cHairspray.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/some-like-it-hot-broadway-2.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Adrianna Hicks plays Sugar Cane in &quot;Some Like It Hot.&quot;\" class=\"wp-image-24976369\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/some-like-it-hot-broadway-2.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/some-like-it-hot-broadway-2.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/some-like-it-hot-broadway-2.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Adrianna Hicks plays Sugar Cane in \u201cSome Like It Hot.\u201d<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Marc J. Franklin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On board the train, the duo meet Sugar Cane (Adrianna Hicks), the Syncopators\u2019 singer, and womanizing Joe struggles to tamp down his libido while in drag. Playing Sugar, Hicks has a powerful voice, but Monroe\u2019s <em>je ne sais quois<\/em> is missed. So much of the character, we realize, was Monroe\u2019s iconic personality \u2014 and without it there\u2019s not much left except the script not knowing what to do with Sugar\u2019s drinking problem.<\/p>\n<p>During the first act, especially, Shaiman and Wittman\u2019s derivative jazz score pummels you with generic-ness and volume. Every song sounds like a shouted version of \u201cHoney Bun\u201d from \u201cSouth Pacific.\u201d Tune titles like \u201cVamp!\u201d and \u201cZee Bap\u201d scream in our faces like unhinged lunatics on Eighth Avenue, and the duo behind \u201cHairspray\u201d has seemingly lost the ability to find jokes and develop characters with their music.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They end the first half with their song \u201cLet\u2019s Be Bad\u201d from TV\u2019s \u201cSmash,\u201d which, lest we forget, was a humongous flop for NBC.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/some-like-it-hot-broadway-3.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Daphne (J. Harrison Ghee) meets Osgood (Kevin Del Aguila) in San Diego.\" class=\"wp-image-24976381\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/some-like-it-hot-broadway-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/some-like-it-hot-broadway-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/some-like-it-hot-broadway-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Daphne meets Osgood (Kevin Del Aguila, center) in San Diego.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Marc J. Franklin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In Act 2, the band arrives at a grand hotel in California. And, come to think of it, \u201cSome Like It Hot\u201d would benefit from a director-choreographer like Tommy Tune of \u201cGrand Hotel,\u201d who knows how to creatively make the most of a bar or a bellhop. Director Casey Nicholaw doesn\u2019t and, therefore, packs in unmotivated tap dancing anywhere he can. At first the tap is dazzling, but the shimmer fades to monotony. Scott Pask\u2019s metallic period set is Art Meh-co.<\/p>\n<p>The West Coast antics are meant to be farcical. Daphne ends up in a flirtation with the wealthy Osgood (Kevin Del Aguila) and Jerry adopts a third persona as a German film producer to woo Sugar. Nicholaw tacks on a long madcap \u201cBenny Hill\u201d chase sequence near the end with gangsters, cops and the band that\u2019s logistically impressive but hardly hysterical. Act 2, for all its plot complications, is eerily calm.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/5_Some_Like_It_Hot_Credit_Matthew_Murphy.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Christian Borle as Josephine, left, and J. Harrison Ghee is Daphne with the cast of &quot;Some Like It Hot.&quot; \" class=\"wp-image-24976424\" width=\"619\" height=\"412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/5_Some_Like_It_Hot_Credit_Matthew_Murphy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1236 1238w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/5_Some_Like_It_Hot_Credit_Matthew_Murphy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=927 928w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/5_Some_Like_It_Hot_Credit_Matthew_Murphy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=619 619w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/5_Some_Like_It_Hot_Credit_Matthew_Murphy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=309 309w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/5_Some_Like_It_Hot_Credit_Matthew_Murphy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 619px) 100vw, 619px\"\/><figcaption>Christian Borle as Josephine( left) and J. Harrison Ghee as Daphne with the cast of \u201cSome Like It Hot.\u201d <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Matthew Murphy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The funniest people in the show, actually, are NaTashha Yvette Williams as Sweet Sue and Angie Schworer as the Society Syncopators\u2019 manager of sorts. Kudos to them, but their prodigious skill and knack for a punchline underlines the lead actors\u2019 lacking material.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve heard \u201cSome Like It Hot\u201d described a lot as an \u201cold-fashioned musical comedy.\u201d And, yes, it sure feels old. But the shows that those folks are referencing, and that this musical aspires to be \u2014 \u201cGuys and Dolls,\u201d \u201cThe Music Man,\u201d \u201cAnything Goes\u201d \u2014 sparked with innovation in their time (and, ya know, had strong scores and books).<\/p>\n<p>Unlike \u201cSome,\u201d they were hot.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/12\/11\/some-like-it-hot-broadways-latest-drag-musical-is-tepid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Broadway&#8217;s latest drag musical is tepid&#8221; Gentlemen prefer \u2026 the movie. The wobbly quality of the new Broadway musical \u201cSome Like It Hot,\u201d which opened Sunday night at the Shubert Theatre, is made much more obvious by the indisputable greatness of its source material. Theater review Two hour and 30 minutes, with one intermission. At&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":525380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/some-like-it-hot-broadway-1.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[137071,29467,72707,70731],"class_list":["post-525379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-12-11-22","tag-broadway","tag-musicals","tag-theater-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}