Review: SOME LIKE IT HOT National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center

Based on Billy Wilder’s 1959 Academy Award-winning film of the same name, Some Like It Hot follows two musicians, Joe & Jerry, who are forced to flee Chicago after witnessing a mob hit. With gangsters hot on their heels, they’re on the run as the newest members of the swingingest big band ever to cross the country…disguised as Josephine & Daphne. This is the second musicalization of the classic comedy following the 1972 Tony-nominated Sugar.

Some Like It Hot was originally scheduled to have its out-of-town tryout in Chicago, but got canceled as a result of the COVID-19 shutdown. The show ended up opening cold in New York on December 11th, 2022 at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway. It received 13 Tony Award nominations (including Best Musical). The production closed on December 30th, 2023 after 441 performances. The original Broadway cast recording went on to win the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.

Fun fact about me, in my junior and senior years of high school, I took a video productions class. One of the movies we watched during it was Some Like It Hot. As someone who doesn’t typically love comedies on film, I found it to be a total hoot. I haven’t seen nor read the first musical version, Sugar, but from what I’ve heard, it was more or less a carbon copy of the source material. With this one, the creative team stays true to the spirit of the original movie, but does their own thing with it.

Book writers Matthew López & Amber Ruffin successfully beef up the characters, the arcs, and offer plenty of surprises. Not to mention that they also managed to approach the story with more modern sensibilities. The score by Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman features one banger tune after another. The orchestrations by Charlie Rosen & Bryan Carter turn them all into real toe-tappers. Speaking of which, Casey Nicholaw provides excellent choreography for every single number, which includes such show-stopping tap numbers. Although as director, he provides such kinetic energy from beginning to end.

Everyone in the cast proves to be real quadruple threats as they all nail the singing, dancing, acting, and comedy. Matt Loehr makes for a very amusing Joe/Josephine. Unlike the original film where that character creates an additional disguise as a millionaire to win the heart of a girl, he creates one as an Austrian in an attempt to flee the band, but finds himself in a bigger pickle. One of the biggest updates to the story is for the role(s) of Jerry/Daphne. Without giving too much away, he starts off having no interest in crossdressing, but goes on to feel much more at home as a woman. It all culminates in an Act II solo number, ‘You Coulda Knocked Me Over With a Feather.’ Actor Tavis Kordell really sells that arc. Taking on one of Marilyn Monroe’s most iconic roles should’ve been no easy task. Yet the musical reinvents Sugar Kane, the band’s lead singer, from a young white girl chasing love to a young black girl chasing Hollywood stardom. Leandra Ellis-Gaston successfully makes it her own while also proving to be the heart and soul of the show. Edward Juiver is very memorable as Osgood Fielding III, an eccentric millionaire who falls in love with Daphne. Tarra Conner Jones is very sassy as Sweet Sue, a former speakeasy performer who forms the all-girl band. Devon Goffman makes for a fun comic villain as Spats Colombo, the gangster who’s after both Joe & Jerry.

If you’re a fan of the original film, you’ll be amazed by how the creative team reimagined the story for the 21st century. If you’re not familiar with it, you’ll be amazed by how they pulled off an old-fashioned traditional musical comedy for the modern age. Everything looks so visually appealing from Natasha Katz’ wonderful lighting to Scott Pask’s elegant set to Gregg Barnes’ glamorous costumes. Some Like It Hot not only proves to be a great time, but also offers a great message for this day and age.

The national tour is currently running at the Durham Performing Arts Center through June 22nd. For more information, please click here.