REVIEW: Some Like It Hot: The Musical

To celebrate a birthday, I saw Some Like It Hot last week at the Pantages Theatre in L.A. (or more specifically, Hollywood). To be honest, this musical was not at all a show I was particularly interested in, partly because I didn’t see how anything could live up to the original film starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, which, I recognize, might not be fair. But we got tickets since there were not many other shows playing we wanted to see.

It was fine and entertaining enough, with a lot of big numbers, a few laughs, and nice performances. But nor did we find the production or the songs particularly memorable. My wife even bought a yacht cap for the occasion (if you know, you know)—she knows I’d never wear it in public lol, though she did swoon when I modeled it for her at home for a laugh. But, sadly, that whole conceit from the film—where Tony Curtis disguises himself as a millionaire (while impersonating Cary Grant) to woo Marilyn Monroe’s character, Sugar—was not in the musical. (Instead, he masquerades as a Hollywood screenwriter, which plays on Sugar’s desire to be a famous actress.) And reflecting modern day concerns, the show understandably also leans heavily into the film’s themes of sexual identity and fluidity, making it LGBTQ+ friendly.

Interestingly, while parts of the movie were famously shot at the iconic Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, those scenes are actually set in Florida, so the hotel wasn’t identified or mentioned in the film. In contrast, in the musical, that part of the story not only takes place in San Diego, but the Hotel del Coronado is pointedly named-checked and identified! (I have visited the hotel and spent a day at its beach, pretty much in the same location as where they shot scenes from the film.)

The day after we saw the play, we were inspired to watch the movie. I’ve seen it numerous times and we still laughed out loud a lot! Of course, the characters in the play and the film are not identical but one element I missed in the musical—aside from a Cary Grant impersonation—was that, to ensure the character of Sugar is strong and possesses agency, you lose the vulnerability of Monroe’s performance. But, I guess trying to live up to Marilyn Monroe would be a tough proposition!