(Review) “Tootsie” At DPAC Is ‘A Heaping Of Kitsch And Plenty Of Vaudevillian Panache’

Last night (Oct. 19), the U.S. tour of Tootsie made its debut at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC). The Broadway comedy musical will run through Saturday, Oct. 23.

Tootsie is based on the eponymous 1982 film, which starred Dustin Hoffman as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels.

The Tootsie franchise has musical theatre in its DNA. The film’s screenwriting team boasted Broadway luminaries, and leading man/lady Dustin Hoffman got his start in the famed theatrical district.

Michael Dorsey (portrayed on tour by Drew Becker) is a struggling actor who devises a cockamamie scheme to break into the industry. Enter Dorothy Michaels: our protagonist’s frumpy, female alter ego.

As the show’s lead, Becker had some mighty big heels to fill – an Oscar-nominated Hoffman on screen, a Tony-winning Santino Fontana on stage. The copper-topped, rosy-cheeked tenor is a relatively fresh face in show biz. As Dorothy, Becker moves and poses daintily – despite being “built like a tractor.” Her neutral stance vaguely resembles a ballerina’s fourth position. There was no drawn-out “feminization” sequence (à la Mrs. Doubtfire) for Dorothy. Instead, Miss Michaels simply glid onto the stage, the epitome of class.

Becker is complemented by a pint-sized yet powerful Ashley Alexandra, who plays Julie Nichols. It’s a shame that her vocals were sometimes lost in an orchestral deluge. The main cast also includes Payton Reilly as Sandy Lester, Lukas James Miller as Max Van Horn, and Jared David Michael Grant as Jeff Slater. These three characters easily got the most laughs from the audience. Miller was particularly uproarious as a dimwitted (but oh so hunky) reality TV star.

David Yazbek provided the music and lyrics for Tootsie. Geriatric millennials may know Yazbek as the theme song composer for the 90’s children’s program Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?. Down in the pit, Simon Hale’s eclectic Tony-nominated orchestration is replete with flamboyant flourishes befitting of our begirdled heroine.

Yazbek’s lyrics, in true Sondheimian style, can be rapid-fire and verbose (“What’s Gonna Happen”). Con-sequin-tially, some theatergoers may have difficulty following. Yazbek, also like Sondheim, is more notably a lyricist than a composer. In the case of Tootsie, however, neither the lyrics nor the music is especially memorable. They sure are fun, though!

Tootsie has cringe-worthy moments, most of them intentionally humorous. Later in Act II, Dorothy Michaels does the unthinkable – she comes out as a cisgender, heterosexual man. This act of bravery was surely inspiring to all the closeted straight young men in the audience.

Naysayers may dismiss the original Tootsie as a low-brow Reagan-era relic, but there are some important themes to be found here. Unfortunately, Tootsie‘s humor drowns out its music – and its music is its message. For the audience’s attention, feminist commentary must compete against scenery-chewers Reilly, Miller, and Grant. Albeit, Tootsie is marketed as a comedy, and conspicuously so. Amid a cacophony of guffaws and knee-slaps, it’s all too easy to overlook Tootsie’s pertinent points on ageism, consent, and workplace politics. Robert Horn’s book is bestrewn with (marketable) socially-conscious messaging, but not enough to appease some critics.

At first glance, a Disney Channel veteran may seem a peculiar choice as librettist, but Horn’s book does not disappoint. Horn has penned for gay-friendly glitterati like RuPaul and Bette Midler, so Tootsie was hardly a drag. Horn’s résumé includes such teenybopper fare as Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure and Broadway’s 13. Horn’s background perhaps reflects producers’ desire to introduce Dorothy and her “dynamite red sequined dress” to a younger, woke-er audience.

The Tony-winning production is a cheeky love letter to the Great White Way, served with a heaping of kitsch, a sprinkling of schmaltz, and plenty of vaudevillian panache. Oh, and spandex.

Tootsie is surprisingly scarce in low-hanging, half-cocked anatomical gags – these are deployed sporadically throughout the show’s 2-hour 35-minute runtime.

Good art is often subversive in some way, but capitalist entertainment makes true subversion difficult. Under such a socio-economic system, anything and everything is subject to commodification. Even an act and art as radical as drag, which holds its own significance for queer people of color. Tootsie’s forward-thinking ethos is cheapened (literally) by the U.S. tour’s use of non-union talent – and by the fact that a Trump-donor produced the show. These problems are hardly unique to Tootsie, though.

All that aside, Tootsie is sure to entertain even the most jaded Gen Z-ers (such as yours truly). The Tony-winning production is a cheeky love letter to the Great White Way, served with a heaping of kitsch, a sprinkling of schmaltz, and plenty of vaudevillian panache. Oh, and spandex.

Tootsie will continue to grace DPAC’s Mildred and Dillard Teer Stage through this Saturday (Oct. 23). Click here for more information. Tickets start at $30 and are going fast! Please be mindful of the venue’s  COVID-19 precautions, as they are strictly enforced. Enjoy the show, everyone!