Broadway in Chicago Presents TOOTSIE Review – Dazzles and Delights on Fast Track to Tony Awards

At the official opening of TOOTSIE -- where the play has on its trainer wheels before going to Broadway proper in New York—all eyes were on Brett Kavanaugh manspreading in his box seat…

 Well…Not really. But at times it certainly felt like he was there, along with every other figure in today’s #Me-Too narrative --from leads to cameos, including even Dustin Hoffmann, the original Tootsie. All these spirits do indeed crowd the sumptuous Cadillac Palace, along with Hillary Clinton’s wardrobe designer and hairstylist, and everyone else peopling our RAM as David Yasbek (Music and Lyrics) and Robert Horn (Book) enchant us with their LOL musical treatment of the classic film of same name.

For those who don’t know the story, Tootsie —in both the original film and this musical‑—is a tale of a desperate out-of-work actor who dons dress, wig, and high-pitched voice to get a part of a woman in a play. He not only wins the part, but also the heart of the leading lady , who thinks he is a woman. Worse, he loves her back but can’t figure out how to end the deception. At the story’s conclusion, this actor Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels sums up his journey by saying, “ "I was a better man with you as a woman than I ever was with a woman as a man."    One can imagine that then most women in the audience want to shout out, “Right on Sister…er,…brother!

First and foremost—in the long list of what puts this production on the speed track to Tony Awards once it opens in New York—is the star performance by Santino Fontana in the title role where his amazing vocal range from contratenor to baritone is a constant WOW! His comic timing is perfect as well, as is that of his co-stars. Sarah Stiles playing Sandy Lester—his close friend and ex who ever sings in a fast and faster clip of her continuing meltdown, sharing that her yoga instructor says she has invented a new position called “Downward Spiral” is a total hoot. Michael/Dorothy’s roommate and playwright with writer’s cramp, Jeff Slater, played by Andy Grotelueschen , sings one of the instant musical hits and what this reviewer thinks defines a heretofore unknown I told you so music genre with his song “You F***ed Up”. That's just one instantly lovable song among many in this score.  Scenes with Sontana, Stiles and Grotelueschen together have the feel and laughs of a Seinfeld’s-greatest-hits track, where you haven’t finished laughing at the last bon mot when another one comes out quickly on its heels.

Pacing in this production is fast but, in this writer’s opinion, always clear. It makes one think about how Director Scott Ellis, along with choreographer Denis Jones, took this script and score jewel and gave it the expert polishing it so deserves. For this reviewer, there isn’t any production aspect that doesn’t feel perfect. Of all the theater insider and Broadway junkie references throughout the show—and there are many—this reviewer especially loves the choice by costume designer William Ivey Long to put his dancers in glamorous poodle skirts and tuxes that conjure the celebrity photos at Sardi’s and Toots Shor’s back in the day.

Broadway in Chicago Stages Sure-to-Be-Hit and Instant Classic

Tootsie has earned a spot in the Golden Age of Broadway pantheon—to use a favorite word of the Michael/Dorothy’s director-nemesis, Stan Fields, played with just the right balance of slime ball and asshole by Reg Rogers. This is a hit and on the fast track for all the Tony Awards there are, and perhaps a newly minted one for Best Zeitgeist Steam Cooker Release Valve, an award yet to be conceived.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Note: This is now added to the Picture this Post round up of BEST PLAYS IN CHICAGO, where it will remain until the end of the run. Click here to read — Top Picks for Theater in Chicago NOW – Chicago Plays PICTURE THIS POST Loves.

The company features Tony Award nominee SANTINO FONTANA as Michael Dorsey (and Dorothy Michaels), LILLI COOPER as Julie Nichols, SARAH STILES as Sandy Lester, JOHN BEHLMANN as Max Van Horn, ANDY GROTELUESCHEN as Jeff Slater, JULIE HALSTON as Rita Marshall, MICHAEL McGRATH as Stan Fields and REG ROGERS as Ron Carlisle and SISSY BELL, BARRY BUSBY, PAULA LEGGETT CHASE, BRITNEY COLEMAN, LESLIE DONNA FLESNER, JENIFER FOOTE, JOHN ARTHUR GREENE, DREW KING, JEFF KREADY, HARRIS MILGRIM, ADAM MONLEY, SHINA ANN MORRIS, JAMES MOYE, KATERINA PAPACOSTAS, DIANA VADEN and ANTHONY WAYNE.

TOOTSIE features an original score by Tony Award-winner David Yazbek , a book by Robert Horn (, choreography by Denis Jones, and musical direction by Andrea Grody.Scott Ellis is the Director.

Photos: Julieta Cervantes