Tag: Billy Wilder

Staged film adaptation goes heavy on spectacle

Cast members show off some of the high-flying choreography that won Some Like It Hot one of its four Tony Awards on Broadway.

By Richard Ades

“Well, nobody’s perfect.” It’s ironic that one of the most famous last lines in the history of cinema belongs to a film that’s pretty much perfect.

Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon as Depression-era musicians Joe and Jerry, who are being chased by gangsters because they accidentally witnessed a mob execution. Disguising themselves as women, they join an “all-girl band,” where their attempts to fit in are complicated by Joe’s attraction to the lead singer and Jerry’s acquisition of an admirer who refuses to take “no” for an answer.

It’s always risky trying to adapt a work as universally loved and admired as Wilder’s 1959 comedy, so it’s not surprising that the stage version of Some Like It Hot fails to achieve the original’s perfection. What’s disappointing is that it could have been a lot better.

With a book by Matthew Lopez and Amber Ruffin, and songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the musical opened on Broadway in late 2022 and closed just over a year later. Despite the relatively short run, the show garnered a slew of Tony nominations and won four. Besides best actor in a musical, it took home awards for costume design, choreography and orchestrations.

These wins point to some of the show’s strong points, which are also evident in the touring production that opened Tuesday at Columbus’s Ohio Theatre.

Director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw imbues the many song-and-dance numbers with high kicks and precision tapping, all backed by Charlie Rosen and Bryan Carter’s brassy, jazzy orchestrations. Meanwhile, Gregg Barnes outfits the characters in imaginative period costumes. Combined with Scott Pask’s gorgeous set designs, it all adds up to a colorful spectacle.

In a way, that’s part of the reason the show falls short of the film that inspired it. Far from a spectacle, Wilder’s classic was the comic but heartfelt tale of two men who disguise themselves to stay alive and find their lives altered as a result. Not only do they learn what it’s like to be a woman in a man’s world, but one of them finds that living as a woman is strangely fulfilling.

In the touring show, Matt Loehr and Tavis Kordell star as buddies Joe and Jerry, respectively, who don dresses and disguise themselves as Josephine and Daphne. Both get plenty of opportunities to show off their dancing and singing skills, but they have fewer chances to define their evolving characters. And Jerry, in particular, evolves a lot, becoming increasingly comfortable in the guise of the invented Daphne. (Like the Tony-winning actor who played Jerry on Broadway, Kordell identifies as nonbinary.)

As Sugar, the band’s lead singer, Leandra Ellis-Gaston displays fairly decent pipes but was sometimes overpowered by the band on opening night. In fact, several singers faced the same problem, pointing to the possibility that the sound balance was in need of tweaking. A related problem is that the lyrics were often hard to make out, weakening songs that weren’t that memorable to begin with.

One singer who managed to come through loud and clear on Tuesday was DeQuina Moore, who gives a powerhouse performance as band leader Sweet Sue. Filling out the leading cast members, Edward Juvier is a hoot as Osgood, the millionaire who takes a liking to Daphne.

Of the two acts, the second comes closer to the spirit of the movie, slowing down enough to allow Loehr, Kordell and Ellis-Gaston to flesh out their characters. However, it ends with a seemingly endless slapstick number that involves chases and slamming doors and would have been more at home in a bedroom farce.

Moral: If you’re going to adapt a classic movie for the stage, it helps if you understand just what made the movie great.

Broadway in Columbus will present Some Like It Hot through Nov. 23 at the Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St., Columbus. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. through Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes (including intermission). For ticket information, visit columbus.broadway.com. For information on future tour stops, visit somelikeithotmusical.com.

Hollywood has-been seeks comeback in Webber musical

Norma Desmond (Gina Handy) tangoes with Joe Gillis (Chris Shea) in Short North Stage’s production of Sunset Boulevard (photo by Heather Wack)
Norma Desmond (Gina Handy) tangoes with Joe Gillis (Chris Shea) in Short North Stage’s production of Sunset Boulevard (photo by Heather Wack)

By Richard Ades

One of Sunset Boulevard’s two most famous lines comes early on. When a struggling writer stumbles into Norma Desmond’s Hollywood mansion and tells her she “used to be big,” the former silent-film star replies: “I’m still big. It’s the movies that got small.”

Movies may or may not be smaller nowadays, but movie-based stage musicals are often extravaganzas. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s adaptation of Billy Wilder’s 1950 film certainly was. In fact, the 1994 Broadway production was so expensive that it ran for more than two years and still managed to lose millions.

Short North Stage’s production isn’t quite that big, but it’s still huge by Columbus standards. Michael Brewer’s two-story set effectively stands in for Norma’s grandiose mansion and other locations, with help from video segments projected on two large screens. Moreover, music director P. Tim Valentine’s offstage band is sizable enough to handle Webber’s soaring score.

If director Scott Hunt’s staging fails to consistently match the power of Wilder’s classic, it’s partly because the nourish film is tricky source material for a stage musical. Just the right touch is needed to carry off its blend of cynicism, desperation and passion.

One problem is that leading lady Gina Handy only occasionally projects the brittle mixture of grandiosity and insecurity that marks Norma Desmond, an ex-celeb who clings to the belief that the world is eager for her return. At Thursday’s preview performance, Handy also was decidedly pitchy on her first big solo (Surrender), though her voice was better on later, quieter numbers.

Jarod Wilson’s bland lighting design is another disappointment. This tale of a woman lost in the caverns of her ego-driven delusions cries out for uber-dramatic lighting effects, and it seldom gets them.

Most of the cast does strike the right chords, beginning with Chris Shea as Joe Gillis, the struggling screenwriter who wanders into Norma’s abode and ends up falling under her dangerous spell. Perhaps Shea could project a bit more world-weariness as Joe, who has become tired of the ass-kissing it takes to prosper in Hollywood, but he has no trouble earning our attention and concern.

As Max, Norma’s mysterious butler, Christopher Moore Griffin is appropriately reserved and sings with the show’s deepest, richest voice. The only drawback is that Max’s lyrics sometimes get buried under a droning German accent, so a little more enunciation would be helpful.

The fourth major character, script editor Betty Schaeffer, is played by Cassie Rae. The perky blonde proved in Short North Stage’s early-2014 production of A Grand Night for Singing that she’s a charismatic performer with an irresistible voice. She proves it again here, to the extent that Betty’s growing affection for Joe becomes one of the show’s strongest threads.

Smaller parts are divided among a group of worthy actors who each play multiple roles. Doug Joseph, for example, portrays “Finance Man #1” in addition to legendary director Cecil B. DeMille.

Of the nearly sung-through musical’s two acts, Act 2 is stronger, as it contains several dramatic payoffs. They include the show’s other famous line, Norma’s surreal announcement that she’s ready for her close-up.

Surprisingly, this is the first time we see clearly just how many years separate Norma from the glamorous, youthful image she carries around in her head. Up until then, she’s appeared to be little older than the writer who’s joined her household.

If only she’d posed for that close-up a couple of hours earlier, the depths of her delusion would have been easier to understand.

Short North Stage will present Sunset Boulevard through Oct. 19 at the Garden Theater, 1187 N. High St. Show times are 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes (including intermission). Tickets are $25-$40. 614-725-4042 or shortnorthstage.org.