Finally saw TOOTSIE

Posted: 10/30/19 at 1:19pm

Boy, after seeing the musical adaptation of this comedy classic,  it's never been more clear what the state of the American Broadway Musical is in...and it isn't exactly healthy.

The WHY? is missing from every part of this musical. 

1) there is no message here. What the film did so great, during a relevant time in woman's rights, is show that he can pretend to be a woman all he wants, that doesn't mean a man can EVER fill a woman's shoes.  And in fact it's impossible.  This Michael is just dressing up as a woman to get a job, after essentially putting a nail in the coffin of his own career....unfortunately, it does come across as well, sexist...of course I know they didn't do it intentionally, but I don't think the show works without that message from the movie.

2) This book is not worthy of a Tony Award.  I get that the book of musical is a mysterious thing and lots of debates always occur when it comes to how effective they are, but this is just full of hokey, reject jokes from a 90's sitcom.  You learn almost nothing about the characters that isn't stock /stereotype.  Resetting it to musical instead of soap opera isn't a bad idea, but does almost nothing exciting for the show. A soap opera setting could have been an unexpected way to approach songs....the idea is ho hum. I'll give it one kudos. When the character of Julie decides that maybe she could be a lesbian for Dorothy.....Ah! A modern idea!  It needed many more of these to work.

3) I'm Yazbek fan till the end. I still think his score to the full monty is one of the most perfect for the characters I can think of. Tootsie.....well, these songs are just annoying. The melodies aren't appealing, the song moments are trite, the lyrics don't excite and aren't funny. Poor sarah styles has to sing that song What's Gonna Happen, everynight....thats up there with Shapoopy for the most annoying song in the musical theater cannon. When it isn't annoying it's so uninteresting it just seems to evaporate into the air like you never even heard it.

4) The cast is fine....Santino Fontana is talented. I don't get Tony for this musical performance and I don't think he's at ease in a musical, at least he seems manic and stressed in this. I'd much prefer to see him in plays like Sons of the Prophet a few years back in which he was wonderful.  You don't want to root for his Michael. 

Lilli Cooper has a good voice no doubt, but she's wrong for this role and unfortunately she doesn't bring any special unique qualities to an already blandly written Ingenue character so she comes across as well, just another bad musical theater actor. It's a missed opportunity for her.

Sarah stiles does more of the same here as the crazy ex, and paired with the material you just want her to leave the stage.

Michael McGrath and Julie Halston are wasted in nothing roles that could have been cut

Andy Grotelueschen as Michael's best friend and John Behlmann as the leading man are actually quite funny and grounded in their roles, they are the stars here.

5)the set by david rockwell is probably won of the most unattractive and cheaply made set ive every seen on broadway

6) The direction and choreography by Scott Ellis, uninspired and bland...nothing more to say there.

7) One of the clumiest choruses i've seen on Broadway in a long time. Half of them can barely even do the moves full out.

Begs the question....why?

[JSquared2]

Posted: 10/30/19 at 1:21pm

And you needed to start a new TOOTSIE thread --- why?

 

[ellbellthomps]

Posted: 10/30/19 at 1:39pm

I thought it was fine. I loved Sandy's song, its super cute. 

Obviously there are some flaws. Set is awful, has some bad songs, the chorus was weak, but it wasnt that bad. I still listen to it from time to time. 

Posted: 10/30/19 at 1:39pm

JSquared2, i enjoy a snarky chatboard comment. keep em comin'

Posted: 10/30/19 at 1:47pm

oof, not sure I could put this cast album on and get through it all the way.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 10/30/19 at 1:57pm

I agree with everything you said except I actually love Sandy’s song. It’s the only one I downloaded from the album.

I will stick to my Criterion Blu-Ray of the classic film.

[carnzee]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 1:53am

I very much disagree that The American Musical is in an unhealthy state. I recently saw Dear Evan and Come From Away and I'm thrilled to be alive in this era. Not to mention so many other good to excellent shows playing Broadway and touring houses.

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 2:07am

100% agree! To say the show “isn’t THAt bad” isn’t really a glowing review. It’s bad. And he got a Tony in a weak year. Sadly Reeves didn’t deserve it either.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 2:11am

For the record, ''Come From Away'' is actually a Canadian musical. Its writers, Irene Sankoff and David Hein, hail from Canada.

Updated On: 10/31/19 at 02:11 AM

[TooTiredForThis]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 2:20am

I don't think any musical has benefited in recent history from an April opening than Tootsie. I like Santino but his leading performance is vanilla as all get out in the show, but gets an added benefit of being a man dancing in heels that is often seen as an automatic win at the tonys, but even then, the hype around it has died. The book often grazes the serious implications it's plot has but never fully wrestled with it, and it's not as funny as it was made out to be. Honestly i remember there were more laughs in "I don't Understand The Poor" from Gentleman's guide than in Tootsie. (I may also have had a bad crowd. It happens and it does cause bias when judging comedy).

But it was April and there needed to be competition at the tonys.

Honestly if it had debuted 2 weeks earlier, the Prom would've won best book. A month and Damon Daunno would've won best actor for a dark turn as Curly that will be taught for decades and impact how we view Oklahoma in the canon, and may be as impactful if not as iconic as Alan Cumming's Emcee.

Had it debuted in late 2018 it would have been as relevant as Pretty Woman.

Updated On: 10/31/19 at 02:20 AM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 3:28am

"I'll give it one kudos." I don't think that's how kudos work, unless you're being parodic, in which case it is kind  of funny.

Updated On: 10/31/19 at 03:28 AM

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 3:50am

I really enjoyed it- and so did my sister- a really good musical comedy.

[DaveyG]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 1:11pm

Brooks was robbed.

[jagman1062]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 2:56pm

I agree with you overall.   Denis Jones is the choreographer, Ellis directed, and both choreography and direction are uninspired.  I thought there were funny lines throughout the show, but the book was not exceptional.  It was a weak year for books of a musical.  I didn't think Behlmann was very funny, he was more of a caricature than a character, and Stiles was a bit annoying, but she acted her role well.  During her one manic song (I forget the title), I couldn't understand one single word she sang. Cooper had one good song, but I also agree, the role could have been served better by a stronger performer.  I usually enjoy Halston, but I found her to be forgetful in the role.  Fontana gave an earnest performance and I do believe he was giving the role everything he had in his arsenal to pull it off.  No one should ever use the set designer on Broadway.  I'm not particularly a Yazbek fan, but I did enjoy his score to Women on the Verge...   The score to Tootsie is abysmal.  It was mentioned in another thread, and I agreed, that the show would have worked better as a comedy and not a musical.

[Joe Mayo]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 3:10pm

Wayman_Wong said: "For the record, ''Come From Away'' is actually a Canadian musical. Its writers, Irene Sankoff and David Hein, hail from Canada."

While that's true, they went to school here in NYC and the intent was for the musical to get in a position for Broadway. Its not like they were driving towards Toronto and it got so popular they decided to give Broadway a go.

[Broadway Buddy]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 3:20pm

I disagree with most things. The songs are mostly weak, (although I love What’s Gonna Happen). And I don’t love Lilli Cooper. Although the rest of the cast was fantastic! I didn’t think the set was awful, but I’ve seen better. And it was HILARIOUS!

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 4:28pm

For what it's worth, Wikipedia defines ''Come From Away'' as a Canadian musical. Besides its writers being Canadian, it's set in Newfoundland and was first produced in Ontario. And in October 2018, ''Come From Away'' became the longest-running Canadian musical in Broadway history, surpassing ''The Drowsy Chaperone.''