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PREVIEW: Just How Far Would You Go for a Job? Tootsie Takes It Up a Notch

by Twin Cities Arts Reader -
Sandy Lester (played by Payton Reilly) makes a shocking discovery about what's been going on in Tootsie, a musical comedy adaptation of the classic 1982 film that opens at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis on June 20. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

Sandy Lester (played by Payton Reilly) makes a shocking discovery about what’s been going on in Tootsie, a musical comedy adaptation of the classic 1982 film that opens at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis on June 20. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

How far would you go to land a job? No, not that – get your mind out of the gutter – but how much about yourself might you be willing to change?

That question is central to the musical Tootsie, which opens tomorrow at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. This musical with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Robert Horn is based on the popular 1982 film of the same name. Both film and stage show have the same basic conceit: actor Michael Dorsey’s abrasive personality drums him out of the industry; to land a job, he adopts a new persona as actress Dorothy Michaels.

Payton Reilly as Sandy Lester and Drew Becker as Michael Dorsey in the National Tour of Tootsie. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

That is, as New York Times critic Jesse Green wrote, the musical “diverges smartly in both plot and milieu”. Instead of landing a job in a soap opera, as in the film, the musical has Dorothy Michaels (Drew Becker in the national touring production) landing a job in a hilariously bad musical. How bad? It’s a sequel to Romeo and Juliet where Juliet is miraculously revived and falls in love with Romeo’s brother Craig. That bad, but it gets worse and funnier.

In recent years, Broadway has often been at its best when poking fun at its own conventions and conceits. There is a deliberate toying with tropes and expectations in Tootsie, providing a breath of fresh air in a landscape still dominated by revivals and long-running productions.

Wherefore art thou, Romeo? Uhm, dead, stage left. Meet his ripped brother Craig, Juliet. (Left: Lukas James Miller as Max Van Horn, playing Craig) and Ashley Alexandra (center, as Julie Nichols playing Juliet). Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

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Tootsie opens June 20 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN.

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