Review: SOME LIKE IT HOT at The Paramount Theatre

Dear Readers, first off there were way too many empty seats at the Paramount last night for the new musical version of “Some Like It Hot”.  Where were you all?  Do you not like musicals?   Do you not like fun?  Were you trapped under something heavy?  (I will only accept the last answer as a viable excuse.). At any rate, get your tickets and do not let this one get away.  Secondly, for our performance we got the added opportunity to see the resilience of theater people and the power of the understudy.  But more on that later.

Based on the classic Jack Lemon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe madcap comedy, this “Some Like It Hot” does take a few liberties thanks to a wonderful book by Matthew López and Amber Ruffin.  We still start off with musicians Joe and Jerry (Matt Loehr and Tavis Kordell) who come across their mobster boss, Spats (Devon Goffman) as he guns down some snitches in cold blood.  Now, Joe and Jerry are on the run lest they sleep with the fishes as well.  So, of course, they disguise themselves as women, Josephine and Daphne, and get jobs with Sweet Sue’s (DeQuina Moore) all female band in order to get out of town quick.  Once on the road they meet the band’s singer, the sultry Sugar Kane (Leandra Ellis-Gaston), who immediately catches Joe’s eye.  But he’s a girl now!  And to make matters worse, once in California, Daphne catches the eye of millionaire Osgood (Edward Juvier).  But he’s not actually a girl! And to top it off, the gangsters are hot on their tail.  And hijinks ensue.  But in this new version, Sweet Sue’s band is a jazz band, so she and Sugar don’t want to head south as black people aren’t quite welcome there.  And the big twist … well … I don’t want to tell you that one.  I didn’t know it when I saw it on Broadway and I’m glad I didn’t as the loveliness of it made me tear up.  I’ll just say, this 1930’s era story, has some decidedly modern ideals. 

And then there’s the music and lyrics.  It’s from the glory that is Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman, the geniuses behind “Hairspray”, so you know it’s good.  Plus, direction and choreography from the amazing Casey Nicholaw, so get ready for some wonderful dance numbers, including some good old fashioned tap numbers and a raucous, Scooby-Doo-esque chase scene on stage.  This is a good old-fashioned musical that’s good new-fashioned fun and one of my favorite things to come out of Broadway in recent years.  Which is why I was shocked it didn’t last longer there.  No accounting for taste, I guess.  But it's here now and you can revel in its glory.

The ensemble is incredible with some of the best hoofers around.  Moore starts off the show beautifully as Sweet Sue indoctrinates us into the time period.  Loehr and Kordell are delightful together and apart with some great voices and brilliant footwork.  Loehr gives a wonderful goofiness to Joe, which lends itself to a lovely arc when he gets serious.  And Kordell could not be better with a heart as big as that stage and the talent to match.  But, accidents happen in live theater and they did last night.  I didn’t see anything but apparently Kordell injured their knee before intermission and so after holding the show for a bit before Act II, we went on with some staging adjustments and Kordell’s incredible understudy (Johnathan Duvelson) taking on some of the dancier bits while Kordell soldiered on.  But unless you knew the show, you couldn’t tell.

Ellis-Gaston is stunning as the Marilyn type ingénue with a much stronger character and some killer pipes. She did get a bit nasal for my taste sometimes but overall was a joy.  And Juvier’s poor little millionaire was a delight as he swooned and crooned about the stage trying to woo the reluctant Daphne.

You can just never tell why something is a hit on Broadway and other things are not.  With people like this involved, well, you would have thought it was a no brainer.  But there you have it and that’s what tours are for, so people outside New York can enjoy as well.  And enjoy you will.  And so, with my three-letter rating system, I give “Some Like It Hot” at the Paramount an exuberant YAY+.  Be sure to catch this one!  And here's hoping Kordell is on the mend soon.