What might you do if you accidentally witness a murder, a gang hit, one you know will put you at the top of the “my life is going to end soon” list? Might you run off and join a convent, donning a nun’s habit to save your soul? Perhaps you might stick on a red nose and a clown’s costume and escape to the circus? A third choice might be to put on a wig and a dress and take a fast course in makeup application and join an all-girl band, using your musical talents to best advantage. If you are a pair of musicians named Joe and Jerry, the obvious direction is the band as an escape so the mob does not catch you.
The Bushnell’s Center for the Performing Arts has the frying pan set to sizzle as it presents “Some Like It Hot,” a riotous musical comedy created by Marc Shaiman for music, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman, book by Matthew Lopez and Amber Ruffin from Tuesday, April 29 to Sunday, May 4 in Hartford. It’s the Prohibition Era and Joe and Jerry could certainly use a stiff drink as they transform themselves and inject their new personas into the all female band created by Sweet Sue. Surely you have fond memories of the original movie with Tony Curtis as Joe, now Josephine, Jack Lemmon as Jerry, now Daphne and Marilyn Monroe as Sugar Kane. Suddenly the race for survival is on, as the band chugs along by train to San Diego and eventually an escape by the guys to Mexico.
With the FBI and the gang leader Columbo in the chase, romantic entanglements complicate the band members, with scores of dance and song numbers lighting up the stage. Ambitions and deceptions are abundant, secrets are confessed, confusions are hilarious, escapes are close calls and the excitement is contagious. Come watch the Tip-Tap Twins become the Tip-Tap Trio, enter an eccentric millionaire who invented root beer, and scores of confused love affairs that are doomed to end in disappointment or will they? Non-stop adventure is the tune of the day and you will be carried along for a super special ride.
For tickets, call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at https://bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday- Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Put on your dancing shoes and get in the race to help Joe and Jerry escape the mob and secure their future all at the same time.
