Humor, heart lift NSMT’s production of ‘Tootsie’

By Rich Fahey

BEVERLY — You’re 40 years old and have nothing to show for it. You’re working in a business where almost no one knows you and those that do detest you and don’t want to work with you.

How far would you go to start fresh, with a clean slate? And if that clean slate was a huge success but involved a massive lie, how far would you go to protect yourself?

That is actor Michael Dorsey’s dilemma in the musical “Tootsie,” now at the North Shore Music Theatre through Aug. 25.  It is heartfelt and very funny, with a great cast and a number of quirky and interesting characters, and an ensemble bursting with energy.

“Tootsie” has a strong score by David Yazbeck, but the real star is Robert Horner’s witty, insightful book, which won the 2019 Tony for Best Book, one of 10 nominations the musical received that year. The show is, of course, an adaptation based on the 1982 movie that starred Dustin Hoffman, with a story by Don McGuire and Larry Gelbart.

If there is a quibble with Horner’s book, it’s that it does take a while to get where it’s going; Act II could use a trim.

As in the movie, the down-and-out actor Dorsey (Kyle Nicholas Anderson) transforms himself into Dorothy Michaels, a soft-spoken Southern belle who takes New York City by storm.  While in the movie Dorsey/Michaels was involved in a failing soap opera, here it’s a bad musical comedy, a sequel to “Romeo and Juliet” called “Juliet’s Curse.”

Some of Horner’s best scenes and Yazbeck’s best work occur in the dingy apartment Michael shares with Jeff Slater, his longtime friend and roommate (an excellent Joshuia Morgan). Jeff is a would-be playwright who rarely misses a chance to tell Michael what a failure he is while sustaining himself as a waiter at the On The Bone Steakhouse, one of the many witticisms Horner sprinkles throughout the book.

A frequent visitor to the apartment is Michael’s former girlfriend, Sandy Lester (Brooke Jacob), an out-of-work actress who is a bundle of neuroses wrapped inside a series of anxieties, and any appearance by her is an occasion for manic humor.

Early on, we get a view of Dorsey’s obnoxiousness when he gets himself thrown out of a show by unctuous director Ron Carlisle (Matt Allen).

Dorsey barges into an audition for the part of the nurse in “Juliet’s Curse” only to find out – yes, indeed – Carlisle is the director. Carlisle wants Dorothy gone, but producer Rita Marshall (Crystal Sha’nae) overrules him and Dorothy gets the part. A complication: Sandy sought the same part earlier in the audition and that will, of course, come home to roost at some point.

It takes only a short time for Dorothy to bond with Julie Nichols (T. Shyvonne Stewart) the woman playing Juliet in the musical. She then begins to point out – one by one – the absurdities of the script, questioning Carlisle’s authority at every turn with the producer’s support and turning “Juliet’s Curse” into “Juliet’s Nurse” with the spotlight on – you guessed it. The revamping of the script becomes the production number “I Like What She’s Doing.”

Luke Hamilton is a hoot as Max Van Horn, the handsome actor who needs little encouragement to remove his shirt, and inexplicably becomes besotted with the less-than-stunning Dorothy after Dorothy offers him some sage advice. His dogged pursuit of her – including a seriously infected chest tattoo – is a recurring comic theme.

Meanwhile, Michael/Dorothy has feelings for Julie, and when a friendly kiss between Dorothy and Julie turns passionate, things get very, very complicated.

You have to love any show that provides a great actor such as Chelsea native Fred Sullivan Jr.  to go over the top and steal two scenes as Stan Fields, Dorsey’s long-suffering agent.  It is a role that was played on Broadway by another IRNE Award winner, the late Michael McGrath of Worcester. Horner gives Sullivan one of his best lines upon discovering Michael’s secret. “Use whatever bathroom you like. You’ll be the most hated man and woman on Broadway.” –

The ensemble that Director/Choreographer Richard J. Hinds has recruited is wonderful, and they amp up every number they’re involved in.

Horner’s book isn’t just funny; it has a lot to say about gender equity and even sexual harassment in the workplace. There will come a point when Michael as Dorothy must reckon with the fact that he as Dorothy is taking a role from an actual female actress such as Sandy. And also that any success he enjoys as a woman comes with a big fat asterisk attached.

Finally, he does realize “being a woman is no job for a man.”

The North Shore Music Theatre production of “Tootsie.” Music and lyrics by David Yazbeck. Book by Robert Horn, based on the story by Don McGuire and Larry Gelbart in the Columbia Pictures production of “Tootsie.” Directed and choreographed by Richard J. Hinds. Music supervision by Sam Groisser. Scenic design by Shiko Kambara. Costume design by Dana Pinkston. Lighting design by Jack Mehler. Sound design by Alex Berg. At the North Shore Music Theatre through Aug. 25. Nmt.org.