We're feeling hot, hot, hot.
The 1959 Hollywood classic "Some Like It Hot"
is guaranteed to sizzle on Broadway this fall.
Paul's here with the interview.
That's right, Tamsen.
Christian Borle and J. Harrison Ghee are bringing
movie magic to life in "Some Like it Hot."
We sat down at Sardi's to talk all about
this fresh take on a Hollywood classic.
(jaunty music)
You are about to star in a big, splashy,
brassy Broadway original musical.
How does that feel?
I mean, this is a big, big gig.
It's exciting.
It's, we have so much fun every day
collaborating and creating.
And it's a good time.
It just feels like an old, in the best way,
an old-fashioned musical comedy.
There are no social media posts
being projected on the back wall.
There's just a train that comes on stage.
That's our social media post,
is a train that chugs-a-lugs onstage.
And then pure talent.
But simple at its core at the same way.
It's like, everything is just like we're telling a story
and the story is what shines.
That's right.
The set is fun.
It is beautiful, it's gorgeous.
The costumes Gregg Barnes has designed, out of this world.
Like I can't wait. Lush.
Like truly.
Our chandelier is the story.
Truly.
And those twinkly eyes.
(Paul laughing)
You play best friends in the show.
Did you know each other before you joined onto this project?
It was a lot of trust exercises.
We've built a lot of trust.
Now we've gotten to a point where we can just,
with one look, know exactly what we need and what we want.
So "Some Like it Hot," I know this,
I've heard of this title.
Hollywood classic, comedy classic, Marilyn Monroe classic.
It's known for many things.
And it also actually became a musical
almost 50 years ago called "Sugar."
But I think the 2022 "Some Like it Hot"
is probably a little different
than maybe how it was handled 50 years ago.
I feel like we are looking at it with a fresh perspective.
It was ahead of its time then,
and we're trying to do our own version.
We're, not trying, we are.
We're doing our own thing, and bringing our own message,
and sharing our own joy.
But it's definitely the classic story that we're doing.
It is a period piece, but it is, we are living in 2022.
I think that's correct, right?
Yeah.
And the story is told with a modern perspective on it.
And you're still Joe and Jerry.
Yeah. Correct.
And you are hiding out on a train
with Sweet Sue and her band.
That's all the same.
Her Society Syncopaters.
And you're in disguise.
That's correct.
And so talk about your disguises.
Talk about your alter egos that we get to meet in the show.
Alter ego?
(both laughing)
I'm just being me.
I'm just finding me.
I mean, these are the kind of things that people
are going to be experiencing when they come into the show.
They're gonna come in with a real interesting
set of sort of plot points.
And they're gonna come in,
you're gonna blow their minds maybe.
Yeah, and that's the fun, at least for me.
And being drawn to the project of the journey
I get to have as Jerry.
And that mirror I get to share with people
of living beyond your own limits,
and labels, and boundaries.
And finding freedom.
And allowing circumstances to really expand you
and stretch you beyond your wildest imagination.
Wow. I love that.
And I'm the jerk who's along for the ride.
(J. laughing)
Classic musical comedy fodder.
But the jerk learns too. That's right.
The jerk learns, he grows.
That's right.
So Jerry's gonna go on a whole journey
that maybe Jack Lemon in the original movie
could've never even imagined.
But I mean, still honoring that Jack Lemon
for the foundation that was laid,
and all the the fun and frivolity that you expect.
You still get all of that.
So there is a lot of concern,
or a lot of hesitation about these.
There's a whole article, I believe,
"Are Men in Dresses Still Funny?"
Audiences, I think, love the theatricality of this device.
But it sounds like by rethinking the story,
we're sort of dealing with a lot
of the potential landmines of the classic way of telling it.
We've all been conscious of how we are collaborating
and creating this together, and bringing it forward,
and making it fresh and new,
and presenting it through the 2022 lens.
And making sure that the humor
is not based in men in dresses.
The humor is based in circumstance.
And in the experiences that are happening on this journey.
And there's so much happening on this journey.
You know, Matthew López has been
working on this for six years now.
And Amber Ruffin came in a couple years ago
to add her spin to it as well.
And, but he, the work that he did initially
I think cracked it wide open.
♪ I hear a trumpet singing ♪
♪ And then moonlight fills the sky ♪
♪ A trombone whispers softly ♪
♪ And the clouds keep drifting by ♪
♪ But when a saxophone starts moaning ♪
♪ Well the moon drops out of view ♪
♪ To turn a darker shade of blue ♪
And obviously, there's great diversity in the company.
Talk about your Sugar.
Adrianna Hicks. Sugar!
And people know her from "Six," the musical.
And she's definitely sweet and hot.
All the things that, I mean, there are moments in the show,
I don't even know what the word is.
It's just like I'm enamored with her every day.
What I'm so excited about in this story
is that Josephine's friendship with Sugar
is a true friendship,
that translates into Joe's friendship with Sugar.
And so the cringe is taken out,
the kind of awkward lying is, we've cracked that.
So you're not watching someone
lie through his teeth to get with Sugar.
It's a totally different take on it.
And it's really sweet.
♪ Some like it rough ♪
♪ Some like it tame ♪
♪ Give me a moth who loves the flame ♪
♪ Some like it hot ♪
♪ And hot is what I got for you ♪
Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman wrote the songs.
They're pretty good.
Every single song is an earworm.
And both of their lyrics are so witty, and so smart.
And I do think it's their best score in years.
It's one of my favorites.
The first note, it's just exhilarating, it's exciting.
NaTasha Yvette Williams opens the show.
She opens her mouth and we all go (sighs) here we go.
Like truly, it's, the train is leaving the station,
and we're in for a ride.
J., I wanna ask you one sort of bonus question.
You identify as non-binary. Yeah.
So I wanted to ask you,
you are opening in a big musical, in a very juicy role.
How do you feel like the Tony Awards,
and awards in general, should handle
this new world of gender discussion?
Well, I mean, it's one of the things I,
in my life, I am finding myself daily,
and giving myself the space to just exist, and to be.
And try to actively share that energy with everyone
in the understanding of like, we're all human beings.
And I don't expect it to change overnight.
It's not like drop of a hat it's different.
But, with more representation, and more confidence,
and freedom, and authenticity existing in the world,
hopefully it's honored in its fullness.
But those categories need to be looked at.
I mean...
And we'll just give you a special Tony
And I'll take it. (all laughing)
(jaunty music)