If someone is a movie fan long enough they will inevitably find those classic films that they don’t respond to the way they should. One such movie for me is the classic comedy Some Like it Hot. For whatever reason I didn’t find it funny or amusing although I could see why audiences on its release found its antics quite outrageous. It is with this experience I was not excited when I heard a Some Like it Hot musical was coming to Broadway and my meh attitude continued when it was announced as part of the national tours at Eccles in Salt Lake. Perhaps it was helped by these low expectations but you can imagine my surprise when I saw the show Tuesday night and was completely delighted with it. What an energetic, exciting homage to old school musicals in the style of Cole Porter and the Gershwins. I loved it and highly recommend all of my readers go and see this hugely entertaining show.

Like I said, Cole Porter is the composer I kept thinking about most as I watched the show play out (especially in the Act 2.) I would love to ask the creators but I imagine they were as influenced by Anything Goes as they were by the film Some Like it Hot. Even the stories are quite similar with both being about people hiding out from organized crime with lots of tap-dancing good times to be had!

If you haven’t seen the film, Some Like it Hot is about 2 brothers, Joe and Jerry (Matt Loehr and Tavis Kordell respectively,) who witness a mafia massacre and hide in drag with an all-female jazz band led by a woman named Sugar (Leandra Ellis-Gaston.) The band is run by the soulful Sweet Sue (Tarra Conner Jones.) To be honest, the plot is really just an excuse for a lot of song and dance numbers (as is the case with Anything Goes) but I didn’t care. When the singing and dancing is this good I’m on board for all of it!

They did try and modernize the script so that Jerry/Daphne’s transition to womanhood is more empowering and less of a joke, which is nice, but it always feels authentic and endearing- not preachy or overbearing. The real surprise in the cast is Edward Juvier as Osgood Fielding III. He is a delight both as a singer and dancer in all of his songs but “Poor Little Millionaire” and “Fly, Mariposa, Fly” really took down the house (the latter reminded me a lot of “Blow Gabriel Blow” from Anything Goes (sorry to keep mentioning that comparison but it’s true!)

All the production elements for Some Like it Hot are first rate with costumes by Gregg Barnes that sparkle and shine while making the men beautiful whether they are men or women. It’s no big surprise to me that director Casey Nicholaw is also the choreographer because they get the most of the large ensemble in every big group scene. It is a long show (2 hr 45 min) but especially with Act 2 picking things up I didn’t mind the pacing. There are some wonderful sets by designer Scott Pask. I especially loved the starry sky ballroom created for “Dance the World Away” where I felt transformed to an Astaire/Rogers movie scene.

Like I said, the show is long and some may find the story too flimsy, but I didn’t mind it. The sound mix could be better, not allowing the orchestra to overwhelm the talent. The singers could also enunciate better as it is often hard to understand what they are singing about especially Jones as Sweet Sue (also the bad sound dynamics at Eccles doesn’t help with that problem.) Other than that, I was thoroughly entertained by Some Like it Hot, and I’d see it again if I had time. That’s how much I enjoyed it. It is playing through October 5th and tickets can be purchased here.

Some Like it Hot has music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman with a book by Matthew Lopez and Amber Ruffin based on the classic film by Billy Wilder. It premiered on Broadway in 2022 and played for a year before going on tour.

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