Critics think Tootsie is a bona fide hit! Based on the 1982 movie starring Dustin Hoffman, the Broadway version brings the laugh-out-loud comedy that so many musicals in the musical comedy genre miss. The critics uniformly adore the cast, especially Santino Fontana as Michael/Dorothy, but the book may be the biggest star of the show. In addition to being genuinely funny, it includes some updates to characters and themes to make it more right for 2019… at least as right as a musical about a cross-dressing straight man stealing acting opportunities from women can be. In the end, the critics left buzzing about the laughs, not the gender politics, so we’re willing to give it a go, even if we don’t call it woke just yet.
NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW OF TOOTSIE
As a critic, I feel it’s my responsibility to tell you what’s wrong with “Tootsie,” the musical comedy that opened on Tuesday at the Marquis Theater. But nah. Let me tell you instead what’s right. It’s a musical. And it’s a comedy…
DEADLINE REVIEW OF TOOTSIE
You’ll have just enough time during the false-start opening moments of director Scott Ellis’ wonderful new Tootsie to ponder such things, and then the musical and its star Santino Fontana grab hold and don’t let go. It’s not without a few runs in its stockings, but this Tootsie is a delight, a not-quite-blind date…
VARIETY REVIEW OF TOOTSIE
Robert Horn (book) and Tony-winner David Yazbek (score) have a high old time poking fun at theatrical rituals — the mortifying auditions, the grueling rehearsals, the agonizing openings, the backstage heartbreak — in this affectionate sendup of a Broadway musical (replacing the movie’s soap opera setting) and its…
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER REVIEW OF TOOTSIE
That applies no less to Santino Fontana’s extraordinary dual-role performance in this madly entertaining stage musical adaptation. His Dorothy fights for truth in her performance with the same refusal to compromise as Michael, yet she’s smarter about getting what she wants, so smart that we even buy it when she…
TIME OUT NEW YORK REVIEW OF TOOTSIE
This is the rare musical in which the book outshines the score. At their best, David Yazbek’s songs are densely wordy and nervy; elsewhere, they are merely agreeable, and sometimes a skosh underbaked. But Tootsie is packed with great zingers and character jokes, and director Scott Ellis’s bright, snappy production…
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