Reviewed by:

• Some Like It Hot
• Emily G. Furlich

Following Tootsie and Mrs. Doubtfire, Some Like It Hot is the third musical adapted from a man-in-a-dress film comedy to come to Broadway since 2019. Both Tootsie and Doubtfire faced criticism for using transphobic bodily humor and punchlines about drag that reinforced regressive ideas about binarized gender. However, Some Like It Hot seemed more promising to me than Tootsie and Doubtfire because book writers Matthew López (The Whipping Man, The Inheritance) and Amber Ruffin (Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Amber Ruffin Show) used the cross-dressing conceit from the original 1959 film directed by Billy Wilder to send one of the show’s characters on a journey exploring their gender identity. While the musical marks a step forward in representing queer characters in commercial musical theatre, I wasn’t entirely convinced that Some Like It Hot escaped the transphobic baggage associated with the man-in-a-dress trope.

López and Ruffin changed the musical’s setting to 1933, just before Prohibition ended, and refigured some of the characters from the film as Black or Latinx. Joe, played by Christian Borle, and Jerry, played by Black non-binary actor J. Harrison Ghee, escape the gangsters tracking them down in Chicago by disguising themselves as women and joining an integrated, all-women band heading to California. Their destination is California instead of Florida, like in the film version, because López and Ruffin wanted to be realistic about the limitations that racism and segregation created for Black performers at the time. The musical begins with Sweet Sue (NaTasha Yvette Williams), the band’s Black manager, singing in a speakeasy. The police raid the joint and arrest Sweet Sue, sending her off in a paddy wagon. After her right-hand woman, Minnie (Angie Schworer), bails her out, Sweet Sue complains that she always lands in jail while the gangsters running the speakeasies she performs in get a pass, a remark that underlines the disproportionate criminalization she faces as a Black woman.

The cast of Some Like It Hot. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

Jerry, now going by Daphne, a name they pointedly chose over the feminine version of Jerry (Geraldine) that Joe suggested, makes fast friends with the women in the band and admires their new look in a mirror. Daphne’s gender exploration continues when the band arrives in California and they meet Osgood, refigured by López and Ruffin as a Mexican American businessman. At first, Daphne doesn’t want anything to do with him, but Osgood treats them respectfully and sees them for who they are; he sings “Fly, Mariposa, Fly” to them, which alludes to Daphne’s exquisite transformation over the course of the musical.

I found “Fly, Mariposa, Fly” and the following song, “You Coulda Knocked Me Over With a Feather” (both by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman), some of the most compelling moments in Daphne’s arc. At the end of “Fly, Mariposa, Fly,” they accept Osgood’s marriage proposal; when Joe confesses that he doesn’t understand why they would do that, they explain, “I am, in fact, both Jerry and Daphne.” They launch into the song and describe how they “feel more like myself than I ever have in all my life.” When they were just Jerry, they “always walked behind” and “only survived,” but they feel complete now that “Daphne’s arrived.” Daphne tells Joe that he can call them whatever he wants, “as long as it’s said with love and respect,” which struck me as somewhat trite—and, worse, as an excuse that spectators who are uncomfortable with trans people [End Page 560]

Kevin Del Aguila (Osgood) and J. Harrison Ghee (Daphne) with the cast of Some Like It Hot. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

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could use to shrug off the responsibility of learning their names and pronouns. Nevertheless...

审阅者：

• 有些人喜欢热的
• 艾米丽·G·福利奇

继《Tootsie》和《窈窕太太》之后，《热情似火》是自 2019 年以来第三部在百老汇上演的由男装电影喜剧改编的音乐剧。Tootsie和Doubtfire都因使用恐跨性别的身体幽默和关于变装的妙语而受到批评。强化了关于二元化性别的倒退观念。然而，《热情如火》对我来说似乎比《Tootsie》和《Doubtfire》更有前途，因为编剧马修·洛佩兹（《鞭打人》、《继承》）和安布尔·鲁芬（《赛斯·梅耶斯深夜秀》 、 《安布尔·鲁芬秀》）使用了《异装癖》中的变装创意。这部由比利·怀尔德 (Billy Wilder) 执导的 1959 年原版电影让剧中的一个角色踏上探索性别认同的旅程。虽然这部音乐剧标志着商业音乐剧在表现酷儿角色方面向前迈出了一步，但我并不完全相信《热情似火》摆脱了与穿裙子的男人比喻相关的跨性别恐惧症包袱。

洛佩兹和鲁芬将音乐剧的背景更改为 1933 年，即禁酒令即将结束之前，并将电影中的一些角色重新塑造为黑人或拉丁裔。克里斯蒂安·博尔 (Christian Borle) 饰演的乔和黑人非二元演员 J·哈里森·吉 (J. Harrison Ghee) 饰演的杰瑞 (Jerry) 乔装成女性，加入了一支前往加利福尼亚的综合性全女性乐队，躲避了芝加哥黑帮的追捕。他们的目的地是加利福尼亚州，而不是电影版本中的佛罗里达州，因为洛佩兹和鲁芬希望现实地认识到当时种族主义和种族隔离给黑人表演者带来的限制。音乐剧以乐队的黑人经理 Sweet Sue（娜塔莎·伊维特·威廉姆斯饰）在地下酒吧里唱歌开始。警察突袭了该店并逮捕了甜苏，并用一辆稻车将她送走。在她的得力助手米妮（安吉·施沃勒饰）保释她之后，甜苏抱怨说，她总是入狱，而经营她所表演的地下酒吧的歹徒却能获得通行证，这一言论突显了她作为一名演员所面临的不成比例的刑事定罪。黑人妇女。

《热情似火》演员阵容。照片：马修·墨菲。

杰瑞（Jerry）现在的名字是达芙妮（Daphne），他们特意选择了这个名字，而不是乔建议的女性版杰瑞（杰拉尔丁），他与乐队中的女性很快成为了朋友，并欣赏她们在镜子中的新造型。当乐队到达加利福尼亚并遇到奥斯古德时，达芙妮的性别探索仍在继续，奥斯古德被洛佩兹和鲁芬重新塑造为一名墨西哥裔美国商人。起初，达芙妮不想和他有任何关系，但奥斯古德尊重他们并看到他们是谁；他向他们唱“飞翔，马里波萨，飞翔”，暗示达芙妮在音乐剧中的精致转变。

我发现“Fly, Mariposa, Fly”和接下来的歌曲“You Coulda Knocked Me Over With a Feather”（均由 Marc Shaiman 和 Scott Wittman 创作），是达芙妮故事中最引人注目的时刻。在“飞吧，马里波萨，飞吧”的结尾，他们接受了奥斯古德的求婚；当乔承认他不明白他们为什么要这样做时，他们解释说：“事实上，我既是杰瑞，​​又是达芙妮。” 他们开始唱这首歌并描述他们如何“感觉比我一生中更像我自己”。当他们还是杰瑞时，他们“总是走在后面”并且“只能活下来”，但现在“达芙妮来了”，他们感觉很完整。达芙妮告诉乔，他可以随心所欲地称呼他们，“只要带着爱和尊重说出来”，这让我觉得有些陈词滥调——更糟糕的是，作为一个借口，让那些对跨性别者感到不舒服的观众[结束第560 页] ]

凯文·德尔·阿吉拉（奥斯古德饰）和 J·哈里森·吉伊（达芙妮饰）与《热情似火》的演员们在一起。照片：马克·J·富兰克林。

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可以用来摆脱学习名字和代词的责任。尽管如此...