Tootsie Rocks! Tootsie Rolls! Tootsie Pops!
SEPTEMBER 12, 2024—VISTA, CALIFORNIA
Meet Dorothy Michaels: Renowned stage actress and chanteuse. A brutally honest feminist who’s built like a Hummer, she lives in New York, and — oh yeah — she’s really a he.
Dorothy is the memorable main character of Moonlight’s jauntiest new musical, “Tootsie,” co-directed by Larry Raben and Noelle Marion, which opened Wednesday night on the outdoor Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista, successfully “dragging” us right out of the summer doldrums.
“Tootsie” is nothing like “Kinky Boots” or “La Cage aux Folles,” however. For one, Dorothy isn’t your average pretty face when she dons her wig and iconic red dress. If you’re like me, you’re recalling that classic line from the 1982 Dustin Hoffman movie on which this show is based when the producer asks the cameraman, “I’d like to make her look a little more attractive. How far can you pull back?” “How do you feel about Cleveland?” he responds.
Not that you’ll hear that line onstage: Book writer Robert Horn has smartly moved the action from TV soap to Broadway stage. And with a slate of neurotic New York actors getting themselves into some impossibly wacky scenarios, it could now be described as “Seinfeld: Live!” with those killer jokes to match.
The score is by Tony winner David Yazbek, who has transformed “Tootsie” into a razzmatazz musical complete with catchy rhythms and over-the-top vivaciousness: You know something’s right when the music itself feels witty.
Michael Paternostro, in the performance of his career to date, stars as Michael Dorsey, a talented but difficult actor (some have labeled him a director’s worst nightmare) whose professional clock is ticking. Broke, unemployable and newly 40 years old, he feels increasingly desperate. After a string of failed auditions, Michael has a bright idea and decides to make one last-ditch effort at achieving theatrical success. Through a neurotic ex-girlfriend, Sandy (the magically amusing Summer Broyhill), he learns of an open role in an ill-conceived musical sequel to “Romeo and Juliet” called “Juliet’s Curse.”
Disguised in glasses, a blue dress, a teased-out wig and an oddly clipped Midwestern accent, Michael reinvents himself as an actress named Dorothy Michaels, goes on an audition for the show—and charms the producer (an utterly perfect Eileen Bowman), landing the role of the Nurse. What follows is an unexpected, yet meteoric rise to stardom.
A second-act shift in Michael’s relationship with his costar and new love interest, Julie (Elizabeth Adabale), is just one of the cocktail’s twists. Meanwhile, the brash broad and his Pigpen-like roommate, Jeff (Dallas McLaughlin, wonderfully fusing down-to-Earth intellect with friendly frumpiness), frantically works to keep Dorothy’s little secret hush-hush.
Robert Horn’s crackerjack script, the funniest book of a Broadway musical since “The Book of Mormon,” evinces uncommon finesse in updating the revered 1982 movie to a modern-day setting, maintaining the material’s farcical core while massaging many of the character jokes, zingers and aspects of the film that have aged well.
Admittedly, its central arc does requires a straight, cross-dressing learning curve, but rather than telling the story about a male actor who pretends to be a woman to get a gig, as some kind of look-what-women-go-through, pseudo-empowerment feminist lesson, the creators choose instead a nearly full-on satirical take on the narcissistic male ego. It’s that perspective that lifts the story’s farcical spirit into the contemporary.
Most everything here comes off with a vibrant musical-comedy zeal, from Horn’s fresh and funny one-liners to Yazbek’s brassy-funky-jazzy score to the comic performances led by Mr. Paternostro. And just wait ‘til you hear him sing. He croons the tuneful audition song, “I Won’t Let You Down,” in a delightfully seismic voice that leaves no doubt in your mind that she’s our girl.
MOONLIGHT STAGE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS, THE COMEDY MUSICAL TOOTSIE; Music and Lyrics by DAVID YAZBEK; Book by ROBERT HORN; Based on the story by DON McGUIRE and LARRY GELBART and the COLUMBIA PICTURES motion picture produced by PUNCH PRODUCTIONS starring DUSTIN HOFFMAN; Dance Arrangements by DAVID CHASE; Vocal and Incidental Arrangements by ANDREA GRODY; Originally Produced on Broadway by SCOTT SANDERS and CAROL FINEMAN; Orchestrations by ANDREA GRODY; Lighting Design by RYAN MARSH; Make-up Art Design by JAIME LEODONES-SPROUL; Sound Design by JORDAN GRAY; Hair & Wig Design by PETER HERMAN; Costume Design by WILLIAM IVEY LONG; Properties Coordination by BONNIE DURBEN; Tour Scenic Design by CHRISTINE PETERS; Dorothy Michael’s Wig Design by PAUL HUNTLEY; Video Design by AUSTIN DYCUS; Costume Coordination by RAVEN WINTER; Stage Manager STANLEY D. COHEN; Technical Director JENNIFER EDWARDS; Music Director & Conductor DR. RANDI RUDOLPH; Choreographer JENNIFER RIAS; Associate Choreographer MICHAEL DIKEGOROS; Co-Director LARRY RABEN; Co-Director NOELLE MARION.
THE COMPANY: Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels: MICHAEL PATERNOSTRO; Julie Nichols: ELIZABETH ADABALE; Sandy Lester: SUMMER BROYHILL; Max Van Horn: CHRIS HUNTER; Jeff Slater: DALLAS McLAUGHLIN; Rita Marshall: EILEEN BOWMAN; Stan Fields: GREG NICHOLAS; Ron Carlisle: STEVE GLAUDINI; Stuart: VAN ANGELO; Carl: JOHNNY FLETCHER; Suzie: MAYBELLE SHIMIZU.
ENSEMBLE: DANIELLE AIREY, VAN ANGELO, IAN BLACK, WES DAMERON, JOHNNY FLETCHER, SARAH MORGAN, CALLULA SAWYER, LIZZY SHECK, MAYBELLE SHIMIZU, JAXON SMITH, HELEN TAIT, ANTHONY VACIO, EY WASHINGTON.
UNDERSTUDIES For Max Van Horn: IAN BLACK, For Ron & Stan: JOHHNY FLETCHER, For Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels: CHRIS HUNTER, For Julie Nichols: MARISA MOENHO, For Rita Marshall: LIZZY SHECK, For Sandy Lester: MAYBELLE SHIMIZU, For Suzie: HELEN TAIT, For Stuart & Carl: ANTHONY VACIO, For Jeff: EY WASHINGTON.
SWINGS: MARISA MOENHO, TAYLOR WARD
ADDITIONAL CREDITS: Dance Captain: DANIELLE AIREY; Program Design: NICOLE JASSO; Production Photographer: KARLI CADEL; Social Media Videography: TYLER TAFOLLA.
TOOTSIE will be performing from September 11th through September 28th. Performance times Rated R for strong language and adult themes. ASL interpretation will be available for the September 20 performance. Gates open at 6:00 P.M., show starts at 7:30 P.M. Free parking on site. Click here for tickets: www.moonlightstage.com/events-tickets/tootsie
Chris Daniels
Arts & Entertainment Reviewer
The Show Report
Photo Credits: Karli Cadel
