Thursday, April 25, 2019
‘Tootsie’ on Broadway Is a Tasteless and Cartoonish Satire of Itself
Observer: If you’re a fan of the 1982 movie with Dustin Hoffman (and who isn’t?) then don’t bother to check out the new Broadway musical Tootsie. Numbingly directed by the usually astute Scott Ellis—with appallingly ugly sets and costumes, atrocious jokes masquerading as a “book,” and a trunk full of dopey, derivative songs that all sound alike but pass for a “score”—it does nothing to remind you that it was once an original film that revitalized movie comedy except resuscitate the premise.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
A couple of weeks ago there was an article that compiled some of the harshest reviews in response to stage performances. I think that this particular article might fall into that category. While I agree with many of his points (still coming to this article as someone who has not seen the musical, only read about it's process) I feels like this author now has a personal vendetta against anyone involved with the show. He brings up several case studies for why he feels the way he does, bringing up lyrics that are boringly written, as if someone put the end of each lukewarm line into Rhymezone, and also analyzing the performances of the actors (he truly rips apart Santino Fontana who plays Tootsie). Although it seems as if the author was a fan of the original movie, he clearly wasn't a fan of this musical. However, I haven't seen it, so I can't make the same audience judgment that he did, but he said that the audience around him laughed and responded well. So, it makes me wonder if this writer was even really fit for this show. If he didn't like anything, then maybe he should have just cut his losses, at "this show isn't for me" and moved on. Again, no matter how much I agree with some content points, his language and stance was so harsh it's hard to take it seriously.
Post a Comment