Review: Everyone Will Like SOME LIKE IT HOT at the Eccles Theater
SOME LIKE IT HOT plays the Eccles Theater for a limited engagement through Sunday, October 5, 2025.
Everyone will like the top drawer national tour of SOME LIKE IT HOT, currently playing at the Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City. The classy design, tight choreography, and pastiche score recall the musicals of yesteryear to perfection while casting light on the story’s themes and dialogue through a stirring contemporary lens.
SOME LIKE IT HOT (book by Matthew Lopez and Amber Ruffin, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman), which is based on the 1959 film, received 13 Tony Award nominations in 2023. From the composing duo of SMASH, it includes the NBC series song “Let’s Be Bad” as part of its otherwise original score.
When tap duo Joe and Jerry accidentally witness a mob hit in 1930s Chicago, they go into hiding disguised as members of an all-female band on tour across the country. Along the way they make important discoveries about themselves and those they meet, but will any of it matter if their past catches up to them?
Tavis Kordell is magnificently poised as Jerry/Daphne, and Matt Loehr brings sharp wit to Joe/Josephine. Leandra Ellis-Gaston draws in elements of original actresses Marilyn Monroe and Adrianna Hicks, along with bits of herself, to her portrayal of Sugar.
DeQuina Moore (original Pilar in LEGALLY BLONDE) is a formidable Sweet Sue, and Edward Juvier (Pioneer Theatre and Tuacahn veteran) is a jubilant Osgood.
The wonderful ensemble throws themselves into the staging and choreography with reckless abandon while somehow also executing with precision. “Tip Tap Trouble” especially is a thrill ride of a routine.
The deceptively simple set from Scott Pask begins the show with comfortable repetitive patterns that evolve throughout the running time with increasingly delightful variations, aided brilliantly by Natasha Katz’ lighting. The sensational costumes from Gregg Barnes also become increasingly complex and exciting along the way, and the audience is enamored with every change.
SOME LIKE IT HOT plays the Eccles Theater for a limited engagement through Sunday, October 5, 2025. For tickets, call ArtTix at 801-355-ARTS (2787) or visit www.artsaltlake.org.
Photo Credit: Photo by Matthew Murphy.
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