A Tale of Two Dresses

Musical adaptations of hit films are downright ubiquitous on Broadway. What Hairspray kicked off nearly two decades ago (mother of pearl, typing that sentence makes me feel old) has continued with varied degrees of success. As with many things in life, quality and success do not necessarily go hand in hand. The Lion King continues it’s multi-decade run just a few streets over from Aladdin. For every Kinky Boots there is a Ghost: The Musical. I will leave it up to you to determine into which bucket each of these shows fall. A visit to New York City last week gave me the opportunity to see two members of the newer crop of movie adaptations: Pretty Woman: The Musical and Tootsie. Pretty Woman feels worn and sluggish while Tootsie brims with a fresh energy. Indeed, the only thing these two shows share is the fact that, at some point in the show, the main character is outfitted in a bright red dress.

The movie Pretty Woman was huge when it was released in 1990, and is probably best known for solidifying Julia Roberts as one of the biggest and most bankable Hollywood stars. With music by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance and a book by Gary Marshall and J.F. Lawton, also the film’s screenwriters, the musical is a retread. The story, setting and time period are nearly cookie cutter copies of the movie and it suffers because of that. The chance to simply add music is not enough to warrant a transfer to the stage. Adapting a movie for the stage brings with it the opportunity to make changes and tailor the story for a new medium and, often, a new decade, but Pretty Woman does not take full advantage of that opportunity.

Samantha Barks and Andy Karl, in the undoubtedly difficult position of filling the shoes of Roberts and Richard Gere, do everything they can with the material. Barks and Karl are undeniably talented, as is the hard-working ensemble and supporting cast. But the story and music does not resonate. Watchable? Sure. Completely needed? Probably not.

By contrast, across town, the adaption of the 1982 Sydney Pollack film Tootsie hits all the right notes. Now set in the present day, and with the show-within-a-show flipped from a soap opera to a Broadway musical (meta opportunities abound), Tootsie makes the argument for its’ creation that Pretty Woman does not. The creative team of Robert Horn, David Yazbek, Denis Jones and Scott Ellis have crafted the quintessential musical comedy: song and dance, conflict and resolution, sarcasm and sentiment.

A man masquerading as a woman in order to get a job is tricky water to navigate in the #MeToo era and, while some of the topical references are a bit heavy-handed, the show successfully navigates relationships in many different forms: male friendship, female friendship, female/male friendship, romantic relationships and, perhaps most importantly, the relationship with oneself. The cast, led by future Tony Award winner Santino Fontana is exceptional. No really, I’m no expert, but Fontana’s hilarious and heartfelt performance as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels is brilliant. Dustin who? He commands your attention and earns your respect. The supporting cast features strong turns from Lilli Cooper as Julie, Andy Grotelueschen as Jeff and Sarah Stiles as Sandy. Stiles, as Michael’s codependent ex-girlfriend with a few hilarious peculiarities about her, is the definition of a scene stealer. I challenge you not to laugh when Sandy laments her attempt at doing the Dirty Dancing lift with her cat.

Still in previews, Tootsie cannot yet be judged as a final product, but, if the preview performance I saw is any indication, Tootsie has legs – and not just Santino Fontana’s gams in that iconic red dress. Tootsie has the energy and the compassion to strut down 46^th Street and into our hearts. So, I beg you Broadway audiences, please reward Tootsie’s quality with financial success so that it plays long enough for me to get back to see the finished product. Please.