(L to R) Jacob Tischler as Joe/Josephine, Montria Walker as Sugar Kane, and Tavis Kordell as Jerry/Daphne. Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography.
“Some Like It Hot” is a sizzling way to open the new Olney Theatre Center venue, the Bernard Family Theatre. Thursday, September 24, 2024 marked the official opening of both the new theatre and the musical. It was a real pleasure to watch the ribbon-cutting of this new stage. The new space is flexible and for this show, it was presented as a beautifully inlayed thrust stage with cabaret tables set up front for this production. (There was still mostly traditional theater seating.) It reminded one of an old vaudeville theatre. Much of the set (Scenic Design by Ryan Douglass and Projections Design by Matthew Rowe) utilizes an LED screen which displayed everything from the Chicago landscape to the inside of a 1930’s train car and even the posh Hotel Coronado. This is may be how backdrops are done more often in the future because it offers so much versatility.
…of the highest caliber and a great debut for Olney’s new theatre…expertly-directed production…The whole evening was entertaining and thrilling.
The Broadway production received numerous nominations and awards (Drama Desk Awards, Drama League Awards, and Outer Critics Circle Awards) plus twelve 2023 Tony nominations, winning four. The original cast recording won the GRAMMY Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
The film “Some Like It Hot” is a personal favorite, with the slapstick, as well as wry comedy, of the iconic director, Billy Wilder. The performances by Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, George Raft, Joe E. Brown, and, of course, Marilyn Monroe in perhaps her best role, are phenomenal. The trick here was to try to forget the movie and see the musical as a separate identity, although there are many parallels.
Like the movie, it follows two, down-on-their luck musicians, Joe and Jerry (Jacob Tischler and Tavis Kordell) in Chicago who witness a gangland murder. To hide their identities so they can get out of town and to safety, they dress as women and join an all-female band led by Sweet Sue (Ashleigh King). The lead singer is the very sexy Sugar Kane (Montria Walker). The band arrives in San Diego by train to perform at the luxurious Hotel Coronado. Also staying at hotel is Osgood (Edward Juvier), a millionaire who falls for Jerry as Daphne. This is when the differences from the film makes it unique. First, the cast is interracial and Jerry embraces his feminine side. Joe and Jerry are also great tap dancers as well as musicians. The movies, of course, more closely reflected the historical realities of the 1930s, especially when it concerned racial discrimination and gay marriage. But no one comes to see a musical comedy about two cross-dressing musicians and expects gritty facts. They come for the laughs and there are plenty in this show written by Matthew López and Amber Ruffin. They also come for the music, and the audience will love hearing the catchy tunes by Mark Shaiman with lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman.
Director Jason Loewith is also the Executive Director of Olney Theatre Center, and his experience is apparent in this expertly-directed production. If you know anything about the Broadway production, you might know that the dancing, especially the tap dancing, is a big feature. Karla Puno Garcia’s choreography is some of the best I’ve seen in regional theatre. The music, under the direction of Christopher Youstra, helps make this production of the highest caliber and a great debut for Olney’s new theatre.
The show opens with the upbeat number led by Sweet Sue, “What are You Thirsty For,” at a Chicago speakeasy at the end of Prohibition, in the middle of the Great Depression. Tischler and Kordell shine as they show off their dancing abilities in “You Can’t Have Me (If You Don’t Have Him)” and later in “Vamp!” as they transform into Josephine and Daphne. Walker has a great torch song in Act I, “A Darker Shade of Blue,” and shows the sultry and sad side of Sugar. As Sweet Sue, King leads the group, along with Tischler and Kordell, in “Zee Bop” in one of the livelier numbers. Juvier’s “Poor Little Millionaire” is a wonderful, comic song where the actor captures the rather silly Osgood perfectly but keeps him quite human. Also giving excellent performances in supporting roles are Karen Vincent as Minnie, Greg Twomey as Spats Columbo and Todd Scofield as Agent Mulligan.
The song “Some Like It Hot” closes Act I and opens Act II. In the second act, the two outstanding numbers are ensemble productions. The first is “Let’s Be Bad,” led by Kordell and Juvier, taking the audience to a hot, Mexican café. The second, “Tip Top Trouble,” is one of the best chase scenes done to music I can remember.
The whole evening was entertaining and thrilling, and the production was a sparkling as the champagne we drank to celebrate the occasion.
Running Time: Two hours and 30 minutes with one intermission.
Advisory: If this were a film it would be rated PG13 for comic violence, themes of identity, and adult behavior.
“Some Like It Hot” runs through November 8, 2026 in the Bernard Family Theatre at the Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832. For more information and to purchase tickets, call the Box Office at 301.924.3400, Wednesday – Sunday: 12-6 pm, or go online.
