Some Like It Hot, playing at the National Theatre until December 7, is a jazzy, snazzy, dazzling modern take on classic Hollywood. Based on the 1959 comedy film starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis, the 2022 Broadway musical keeps its setting, plot, charm, and wit, but updates it with contemporary sensibilities, bringing out issues of sexual identity, which, progressive or even shocking at the time, were played only for laughs in the movie. Best of all, it piles on what the original only sketched in: song, dance, jazz, and razzmatazz! And doing so, it pays glorious homage to every kind of glamorous musical of the 1930s.
The bones of the plot are the same: Two down-on-their-luck musicians witness a gangland murder in Chicago and have to run for their lives. They disguise themselves as women and bamboozle their way into an all-girl band playing its way to California. From there, they intend to escape to Mexico. But, of course, hijinks, chaos, and love get in the way.
Everything about this production is smashing. The Tony-winning music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can, Mary Poppins Returns) range gloriously from grand big band numbers with growly trumpets and scatting galore to dreamy duets and heart-rending torch songs. Every song sounds so authentic that you could swear you’ve heard it before (and in one case, “Let’s Be Bad,” you might have, because it is recycled from the duo’s TV musical soap opera, Smash). The orchestra, conducted by Mark Binns and supplemented by programmed keyboards, sounds even bigger and brassier than it is, filling the theater and supporting the performers well.
The production dazzles as much as the score. Scott Pask’s Art Deco sets, from the tromp-l’oeil faux carved stone fire-curtain to the glorious sparkling hotel set, and Greg Barnes’ Tony-winning costumes, which get more glamorous as the evening goes on (including a perfect white satin Ginger Rogers gown, and ever-more fetching outfits for the ladies of the band), carry on the glitzy theme.
And the choreography is where the musical really outshines the movie. In the original, the band is shown backing up Marilyn a few times between extended comic scenes. But the stage version bursts with production numbers. Director/Choreographer Casey Nicholaw bagged a Tony for the dances, which dazzle like a klieg light. The show boasts a gorgeous Fred Astaire–type romantic duet, a huge swing-dance in a speakeasy, and a Mexican tango. And while most musicals these days have at most one big tap production number, Some Like It Hot has at least four.
The updated characters are where the musical most departs from the original, reflecting more contemporary attitudes. Sweet Sue, the speakeasy-owner-turned-bandleader (Dequina Moore), Sugar Kane, the dazzling chanteuse who wants to be a movie star (Leandra Ellis-Gaston), and Jerry/Daphne, the bass player (Tavis Kordell), are all Black in this version, which adds extra depth to the obstacles they face, although the issue is treated fairly lightly. The emphasis, rather, is on gender issues, where the show has understandably updated the movie. All the women are determined, smart, and strong; no one is, or plays, dumb. And much more emphasis is placed on the men in drag coming to realize what women have to deal with, rather than the movie’s comic emphasis on them secretly salivating over them. Joe/Josephine (Matt Loehr) even has to face repeated ageist jokes that women over a certain age know all too well. Over the course of the show, all of the lovers realize that love means really caring for each other and being honest, rather than simply using and being used. And instead of the movie’s ending on a perplexed laugh at the idea of a man not seeing a problem in marrying another man (shocking in its day, and a nail in the coffin of the prudish Hayes Code), the musical foregrounds the idea that a person can be both male and female (and the actor who played Jerry/Daphne on Broadway was the first nonbinary actor ever to win a Tony for Best Performance).
The talent on display here is breathtaking, but particular performances stand out. Edward Juvier is simply delightful in his goofy, sweet portrayal of the millionaire, Osgood, stealing every scene he’s in. Sweet Sue (Moore) and Sugar (Ellis-Gaston) have two of the most interesting voices I have ever heard on stage, perfectly paired. They sound like jazz instruments themselves. Moore’s is low, rich, and growly, like a baritone sax, while Ellis-Gaston’s is high and brassy, like a muted trumpet, but with a sparkling, quick vibrato. And as Jerry/Daphne, Tavis Kordell brings a marvelous elegance, sweetness, and wonder to their portrayal of a man coming to love the woman inside him.
If anything at all dims the gleam and glitter of this performance, it is the sudden shift in tone at the end. After a broken-hearted, wrenching torch song by Sugar, the menacing gangsters show up with big guns and things seem seriously bleak… until the action pivots into full-on keystone cops – very well done, with perfectly choreographed quick costume changes, waiters rushing everywhere, and door slamming to on the beat of the music. It takes a few minutes to process the change in genre, but it seems to be the only way to end this bubbly, brassy musical comedy.
Some Like It Hot is only playing until December 7, and it is a dazzling delight, glamorous, bright, and jazzy, but with heart. Do not miss it!
Running Time: Two hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission
Some Like It Hot plays through December 7, 2025, at The National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with additional 2 p.m. matinees Saturday and Sunday. Purchase tickets online or at the National Theatre box office.
The cast and creative credits for the North American tour of Some Like It Hot can be found here.
