TOOTSIE the Musical: PREVIEWS START- Page 8

[HaroldInNY]

Posted: 4/5/19 at 12:12pm

Since there seems to be majorly diverging views on this show, I wanted to add a strong "pro" opinion.  We saw it last night, and we liked it a LOT.  I've read the complaints about the score, about the book, about the actors.... and none of that matches our experience and reactions.  We seriously liked the music (but thought that the lyrics were a bit iffy sometimes), thought the book was good to great (there were excellent one-liners all over, and there was a sequence in the second act that could easily have been written by Neil Simon or Mel Brooks at their prime; the scene had everyone around us in hysterical laughter), and the acting was good to very, very good.

 

If you're looking for perfection, this is not it.  But we thought it was a funny, tuneful, well-acted show, and enjoyed it a lot.

 

We both did have one quibble... we felt that the ending should have been re-thought and updated at least a bit.  I'm not talking about staging, but that in 2019, it is not outrageous to have gender switches, and it wouldn't have been the Major, Major Bad, as it was presented.  We thought that a much tighter focus somehow on the lying to Julie would have been more in tune with 2019.

 

But it's a quibble.   We definitely think it's an enjoyable show well worth seeing.

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 4/5/19 at 3:24pm

Eloquent justification aside A8 but how many cracks in a record do you actually need before you throw it away?

[veronicamae]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 12:42am

Went tonight.

All I kept thinking the entire time was, "Why isn't this a play instead?"

I much prefer musicals to plays but in this instance every time there was a song I internally groaned because I wanted them to get back to the dialogue and jokes that were making me laugh and it made for a long evening for me.

Oh, also, unrelated to the quality of the show! I showed up at 7:40 to pick up my will call tickets and the box office line was literally the ENTIRE length of the breezeway. It's like half the theatre had will call! I got to my seat at 8:04 (they hadn't begun yet of course) and I think they held as long as they could (I didn't have my phone on to see the time) but after the opening number at LEAST 50 people were brought in to be seated in the orchestra. Everyone outside in the will call line was saying they've never experienced anything like that with regard to the line (nor have I) and it made a lot of people late for the show.

Is that the norm for the Marquis? Or this show? Or are they just comping/third party-ing heavily so there are way more will call tickets than usual? Updated On: 4/6/19 at 12:42 AM

[wolfwriter]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 12:43am

Well, that was cute. Not $175 a ticket cute, but it was cute.

Lately, I find myself walking out of shows a little sad that there is so much unrealized potential that otherwise very talented people don't take advantage of.

Last night, it was All My Sons and tonight, it's Tootsie.

There's a lot to like here, not the least of which is that much of the show is very funny and it's nice to have a book of a musical that makes you laugh out loud.

I don't have the same quibble with the music as others. It's not memorable or great, but, it mostly fits the characters and doesn't stop the show cold. It's not music I will listen to, again, but it was fine within the context of the show. Admittedly, I'm not sure "fine" is what you want in a very expensive Broadway musical.

Santino Fontana was good, but it felt like you could see him working really hard on the stage and so, I never felt totally blown away by him.

The cast was mostly good but never rose to greatness, save Sarah Stiles who is very funny. Julie Halston, whom I love, is wasted.

As was said, the sets are a bit odd...realism and cartoon, with no consistency, but it didn't bother me.

What did bother me is that things just happen. The transformation just happens. The "love" interest just happens. Wouldn't an employer know that either Michael or Dorothy is using a fake ID? Etc...., but I was willing to go with it for the laughs.

But, let's talk about that ending. What an atrocious ending to an otherwise fun evening. I agree the curtain call is unnecessarily awkward and left us with a bit of a bad taste. Cut that odd Mamma Mia mega mix thing that comes out of nowhere, please.

My companion who also thought it was fun, thinks this is a 100 minute musical padded into 2 hours and 40 minutes. I pretty much agree.

I would recommend this for laughs. Just don't pay full price.

FOR ANYONE DOING WILL CALL: Will call is a mess. Tonight, we got on the will call line about 7:35 and didn't get to our seats until 8:05. The line wrapped around the outside of the box office, more than once. You might want to get there earlier than we did to pick up your tickets.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 4:01am

Lately, I find myself walking out of shows a little sad that there is so much unrealized potential that otherwise very talented people don't take advantage of 

Absolutely!

 

 

[asoftplacetoland]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 11:14am

Twitter is in an uproar over Tootsie merchandise

https://twitter.com/robbedsettos/status/1114335591481651201?s=21

Updated On: 4/6/19 at 11:14 AM

[BJR]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 11:42am

asoftplacetoland said: "Twitter is in an uproar over Tootsie merchandise

https://twitter.com/robbedsettos/status/1114335591481651201?s=21"

It's a line from the show. And I admit the line jumped out at me as sounding horrible out of context. It happens to also be in a show where there's a whole line about trans people should be free to use whatever bathroom they want and not have to explain themselves. 

To throw my two cents in, I happen to think the show was pretty damn good. I went in with low expectations but found the book to be HILARIOUS and the score has some definite Yazbeck highs. There are a curiously large number of more derivative songs in the score - maybe only a handful, but that's high for Yazbeck. The "opening night" number being chiefly one of them. 

But this surprised me. Some seriously funny industry/theatre/acting humor and a genuine heart.

Act 2 definite needs about 10 minutes cut (I'd argue some of the stand alone ballads in Act 2 should be short reprises). 

I'd also say there is plenty of 2019 woke language that feels a bit tacked on right now, that needs to be better integrated into the journey and discoveries of the characters. The story and this treatment both allow it, yet they somehow feel tacked on, or perhaps simply overstated.

[DoTheDood]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 2:38pm

asoftplacetoland said: "Twitter is in an uproar over Tootsie merchandise

https://twitter.com/robbedsettos/status/1114335591481651201?s=21"

I can see this line working in the show, in context, but man it was a bad idea to just slap that on a bag and pin. Merch should work (more or less) out of the context if the show and those items really give the wrong idea of what the show wants to be. Hope they change/at least stop selling those items before opening.

Updated On: 4/6/19 at 02:38 PM

[IAMREADING]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 4:28pm

yikessssss

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 10:44pm

" Went tonight.

All I kept thinking the entire time was, "Why isn't this a play instead?"

I much prefer musicals to plays but in this instance every time there was a song I internally groaned because I wanted them to get back to the dialogue and jokes that were making me laugh and it made for a long evening for me. "

Probably because even hit plays usually don't last much more than a year or two and musicals can last much longer even if they are not a huge success. It seems to me from most posts that everybody seems to think it is funny and the weakest part is the score - oh well.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 11:17pm

DoTheDood said: "asoftplacetoland said: "Twitter is in an uproar over Tootsie merchandise

https://twitter.com/robbedsettos/status/1114335591481651201?s=21"

I can see this line working in the show, in context, but man it was a bad idea to just slap that on a bag and pin. Merch should work (more or less) out of the context if the show and those items really give the wrong idea of what the show wants to be. Hope they change/at least stop selling those items before opening."

 

It's a line in the movie-show...Go watch the movie! No they don't need to stop selling. Move on...chill

[DoTheDood]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 11:25pm

Robbie2 said: "It's a line in the movie-show...Go watch the movie! No they don't need to stop selling. Move on...chill"

But I have nothing against the line, in the context of the movie/show, but it just seems like these could easily be misused by TERFs and transphobes when there seems to be other material from the show/movie that would both work better and not seem tone deaf. I wouldn't be mad if they keep it up, it's just a big yikes from me if they really don't see how people will see this out of context.

[Zion24]

Posted: 4/6/19 at 11:51pm

10000% agree with the notion that this would have worked so much better as a play... the truly hilarious bits were the farce scenes, particularly when the agent and dorothy and the roommate were all hanging out in the apartment. That felt like Neil Simon. 

and while i tend to agree that Tootsie the Play would not sell well, and producers would therefore never even consider it, look at To Kill a Mockingbird. Adapting movies into straight plays can work if done right...

[bunnie3]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 2:18am

Saw it today. Terrible in many sad ways,except the Overture, Entr'acte and Sandy s very funny Act 1 song. (ask me if you want more details... I feel depressed after seeing this...)

[John Adams]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 8:25am

bunnie3 said: "Terrible in many sad ways, except the Overture, Entr'acte and Sandy s very funny Act 1 song."

John Behlmann.

Not looking for further discussion, not disagreeing with you (well... I could quibble a bit, but generally, I've already expressed my disappointments with the show). Just throwing him out there as another "exception"...

John Behlmann.

[teresa2]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 8:32am

I totally agree!! I love the Prom, have seen it three times and will be going again. I am seeing Tootsie on Tues night via TDF so will report back.

[John Adams]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 8:49am

DoTheDood said: "I have nothing against the line, in the context of the movie/show, but it just seems like these could easily be misused by TERFs and transphobes when there seems to be other material from the show/movie that would both work better and not seem tone deaf."

I hear 'ya, but...

In its original context, we both can agree that it works. When the TERFs and transphobes twist the meaning, and then we (meaning the people who understand the original context) STOP using it, out of fear of what TERfs and transphobes will do, then we've aquiesed to fear mongering. 

As for me, I wouldn't buy the merchandise with that message because I think it's blatant pandering.

For me, the Michael in this musical version (especially since it's been "updated" to take place in the present) makes a choice to masquerade as a woman, for his own selfish reasons. When he becomes successful at it, he makes a choice (again, rather self-centeredly) that he'd rather throw it all away than spend any more of his future acting career as a woman. 

Unlike the movie, I didn't see any demonstration that this version of Michael learns anything about women that makes him a better man in his interactions with women. Instead, he only learns something about himself:  that he would rather throw away what he has rather than extend his career as a woman.

...and then, the merch uses that slogan? Why? ...other than to pander to folks who understand its original (movie) context.

Updated On: 4/7/19 at 08:49 AM

[sppunk]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 11:56am

Caught the matinee yesterday. I don’t love the movie and don’t find it all that funny fwiw.

This was an enjoyable show but I’ll forget it in a few days. It’s funny but most the jokes are easy and set up, no thinking went into them.

It’s good and this might sound more negative than I mean. We paid $99 with a code and I felt the value was fine. The guy in front paid $279 and if I were him I’d be pissed.

[Rogerdellibovi]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 12:52pm

I totally called the merch debate. I just don't know what the marketing team was thinking. Even if you don't think the line is offensive out of context who on earth would want a bag that says that? A man? A woman? Of all the quotable lines in this show they chose that... 

[magictodo123]

Posted: 4/8/19 at 7:47am

Rogerdellibovi said: "I totally called the merch debate. I just don't know what the marketing team was thinking. Even if you don't think the line is offensiveout of context who on earth would want a bag that says that? A man? A woman? Of all the quotable lines in this show they chose that..."

I have to agree with this. I feel like if they're going to choose a quote to have on a bag they should seriously think about it. Maybe think of a phrase a lot of people know and that CAN be used out of context. This was just asking for controversy. 

[magictodo123]

Posted: 4/8/19 at 7:48am

I THINK I've also seen posts about people having an issue with their advertisement: something about him holding a razor because something like that could be triggering to people. 

[amaklo]

Posted: 4/8/19 at 1:33pm

My daughter and I saw Tootsie last Thursday.  POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW.

The good: Changing the old soap star character into a reality star/wannabe actor was inspired. We missed the movie subplot about Julie's father falling in love with Dorothy, but the reality star falling for her was almost as good.  Also, making Michael's job a Broadway show instead of a soap opera allowed for some very funny scenes of the "shows within the show".  We liked the updated Julie character.

Cons: We hated the new Jeff character and couldn't understand why Michael would be friends with him;  gleefully singing and dancing to a song called "You F*ed It Up", really? Ugh.  Sandy was better, and funny at first, but her kookiness and whining got old.  Sorry Santino fans, but we didn't believe him as a woman for a minute; his singing was good, but he's not a good enough actor to carry this off. The best part of the score is the jazzy Entr'Acte (that's the only part that reminded me the same guy wrote The Band's Visit, which I love); the rest of it isn't memorable.

Just our opinions, YMMV. On the whole, it was enjoyable enough, but I don't recommend spending a lot for a ticket.  I hope they make some changes before this opens, but I don't know how likely that is at this point.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/8/19 at 1:40pm

magictodo123 said: "I THINK I've also seen posts about people having an issue with their advertisement: something about him holding a razor because something like that could be triggering to people."

Now that’s a little bit of a stretch there, because it’s painfully obvious he is shaving...

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 4/8/19 at 3:56pm

Call_me_jorge said: "magictodo123 said: "I THINK I've also seen posts about people having an issue with their advertisement: something about him holding a razor because something like that could be triggering to people."

Now that’s a little bit of a stretch there, because it’s painfully obvious he is shaving..."

That's a VERY polite way of saying 'you're all fkn crazy'.

 

[Johnm2]

Posted: 4/8/19 at 4:00pm

Wait...  when you say "triggering" are you saying someone shaving makes someone want to KILL themself because it's a razor blade??