Find Out What TOOTSIE Has in Store for Broadway!

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

One of this season's most eagerly awaited new productions is the new comedy musical Tootsie, which is based on the hit film

It features a score by David Yazbeck and a book by Robert Horn. It will open here at the Marriott Marquis on April 23rd

and we drop by to meet the company, led by Santino Fontana. Well, the good thing for me is I don't ever really see myself as Dorothy

because once I'm on stage, it's pretty much nonstop, and I run off stage and there's like, you know, a village of..

people with flashlights and hands being able to like fix me up so i never really see myself which

i think is for the better i don't need i trust william and i trust me very long and scott i trust

everybody to make sure that i look the way that they think i need to look and i'll speak up when i

think you know but um yeah no i try to not i try not to see myself i mean it's hard it's a

tricky it's tricky what are you enjoying the most so far i love the cast i

I think the cast were really good. It's a really funny group of people

and everyone's really at the top of their game and are able to ride the waves of both the audience

And the laughter in the houses is really rare. To have things that are that undeniable and that undeniably funny

and then to have such a top-rate cast, able to navigate those waves

that's really exciting. And that's why we do this. So that's a great reminder of why I'm here

It is. come true. I mean, I always say that I get to walk into work every day and basically be surrounded by

a bunch of comedians. Like, what is better than that? We make it to the laugh until we cry

It's awesome. Talk about who you play. I play Julie Nichols. Originally played by Jessica Lang

in the film. And Julie is an actress in the show Juliet Curse which is the Broadway show that we are putting on the show within the show And she really great I mean I actually think she very close to home because she an actress and she loves theater and she just so passionate about what she does

So it feels a lot like I'm playing a character that's actually pretty similar to myself

I play Sandy Lester. She is a lovable, neurotic, crazy person. No, she's, she's, not Santino, she's Michael's best friend

Yeah, and she's dying to be an actress and isn't very good at it, but like it's going to work real hard

And that's her placement. She's like his like real life. Sharing the stage with this cast, but sharing the stage with Santino Fontana, what is that life

I love this cast. I'm deeply obsessed with them. I'm huge fans of all of them

On stage and off. I mean, this is a group of people that just know

their comedy and they know what they do and they are just so good at it

And so being around that is inspiring and it's pushing all of us. We're just constantly trying to make each other laugh

Of all the shows I've written already, it's kind of like the Fulmonte in that the comedy and the moment

suggested the music of the show. It sounds kind of, you'll know it's me

if you listen to my stuff, but there's funk stuff in it

there's jazz, there's rock, there's kind of conventional, meaning classic musical comedy sounds

It goes all over the place, but I think it holds together. Audiences fell in love with this in Chicago

What did Chicago mean to you? I mean, you had a big out-of-town trial

What did that mean to you? Well, first of all, I love Chicago. So being in Chicago was just lovely for two months

however long we were there. It was very interesting to me. Chicago we were at a very big theater 2 seats we were worried can we land these comedy and these characters in that big a theater And we did

The payoff, aside from just success and ticket sales, was this just explosive, thunderous laughter that rolled through the theater

And for someone like me, and certainly for someone like Robert, that's your pay right there

Truly, the thing I've enjoyed the most is my collaboration with the Aspect. because that has been just sort of an unexpected joy beyond anything that I could have imagined

What unlocked it for me is the story. There is inherent comedy in this story

The very DNA of the movie itself is a very funny premise. And what I really loved is the challenge of how to bring that into the modern era

how to make it relevant for the social environment for which we live, and the challenge and the obstacles we face and overcame every step of the way

Are you allowed to sort of give away where the musical takes place now? Yes

Tell us about the Switch. brilliant. Well, we took it out of a soap opera because, for a number of reasons, really two main

ones, which is soap operas have sort of lost the social relevance that they had in 1982 when the

movie was made, but also because it's a musical. Whenever you approach a musical, why does it

sing? And so by putting it in this world, it just all of a sudden felt really organic to the

changes we wanted to make. Both this group of principles and this ensemble, some of whom I've

worked with before, some are kind of new in my world. And it's a really, it's a really, you know

It is a delightful group of people. We had our last run-through in the studio this afternoon

and there was a part of me that got a little melancholy about it because being in the room with these people has been just such a joy

Obviously, you know, we're going into the tech process now, and we will continue to work on the show through previews

but the actual, like, rehearsal period proper has come to an end

and it makes me a little sad, just because I love it up. So I play Max Van Horn who is the only character who is not in the movie who was a brand new character kind of brand new is kind of an amalgam of other parts But I am Max as a reality show TV star who won a show a reality show like akin to like The Bachelor

or, you know, something like that, and is now in a Broadway musical that Santino's character

gets a job in as a lady. And I don't really, Max doesn't, he's not a great actor

he's not terribly bright but he is very earnest and wants to do such a good job

so he tries really hard I play Michael Dorsey's roommate Jeff and basically he decides to do this

crazy crazy thing by dressing up as a woman to get the role in the Broadway show

and I'm the voice of reason saying I don't I think this might be a bad idea

I think this is a terrible idea why don't you think about this And then he just goes further and further and digs himself so far down

So I just remind him how badly this is all going. I play Ron Carlyle, who's the director of the now musical

And did you know that? So I'm not saying anything. I'm not supposed to be saying. Okay

He's the director and he's got an ego like you've never seen before

I play Stan Fields, the role that was played by Sidney Pollock in the film

And it's Michael Dorsey's agent. and we take it from there. The comedy is so strong

The music is brilliant. Every cast member is fantastic. There's not a weak link

The production is gorgeous. The pace is fast and funny. And, you know, anyone can relate to it

You don't have to be in the theater to enjoy this story

It's anyone who's been desperate to do anything that they've wanted can identify with this