Billy Wilder’s 1959 hit Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon, has been named the best comedy film on several occasions. The film follows two musicians, who after witnessing a mob hit, disguise themselves as women to join an all-girl band in an attempt to flee the city. This beloved classic takes the number one spot on the American Film Institute’s “The 100 Funniest American Movies of All Time” list and BBC Culture’s “The 100 Greatest Comedies Of All Time” list, maintaining its mark in film history for over 60 years.
The film has also been praised for its progressive approach to gender and sexuality, as it challenged Hollywood’s strict censorship rules and enlightened audiences on the perception of women through the male gaze. However, some have criticized the decision to put the film on Broadway, arguing that men wearing dresses does not have the same comedic effect as it did in the 1950s, calling it “a tired trope” by today’s standards.
I got to see the first preview of Some Like It Hot: The Musical on November 1st, and without giving too much away, it was vastly different from the film. It follows the same general plot as the film, yet still manages to add a refreshing twist to the film’s themes. The cast and crew of the musical expressed how different the stage adaptation is from the film.
There’s not a lot on stage that resembles the original.
Playright Matthew López, co-writer of the book adaptation of Some Like It Hot: The Musical
The role of Sugar, who was played by Monroe in the film, was written in the musical to be played by a Black woman. Adrianna Hicks plays Sugar in the musical and did a phenomenal job at taking on such an iconic character, while simultaneously reinventing it and making it her own. She said that her character depicts different struggles as opposed to Monroe’s character, allowing the musical to educate audiences on a Black woman’s experiences and challenges. The role of Jerry/Daphne, played by Tony Curtis in the film, is played by a nonbinary Black actor, J. Harrison Ghee, who like Hicks, successfully reinvented the character. The musical embraces diversity and representation in more ways than one, transforming the already beloved classic film into something new.
So, does the greatest comedy film of all time work as a broadway show? Absolutely!
Tickets for Some Like It Hot: The Musical are available at https://somelikeithotmusical.com/ or at the Shubert Theatre box office.
References
The 100 greatest comedies of all time. (2017, August 21). BBC. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20170821-the-100-greatest-comedies-of-all-time
AFI’s 100 YEARS…100 LAUGHS. (n.d.). American Film Institute. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-laughs/
Saporito, J. (n.d.). How did “Some Like it Hot” challenge gender norms and censorship rules of the era? | Read. The Take. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://the-take.com/read/how-did-some-like-it-hot-challenge-gender-norms-and-censorship-rules-of-the-era Schama, C. (2022, October 31). On Broadway, Weighing the Risks and Rewards of Staging ‘Some Like It Hot’. Vogue. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://www.vogue.com/article/some-like-it-hot-broadway