2 pros and 2 cons from the uproarious musical 'Tootsie,' now playing in OKC

No entendre is left undoubled and no snappy one-liner is left unquipped in the stage version of "Tootsie," a musical comedy that is more successful as a comedy than as a musical.

Centered on a desperate, difficult actor who dresses as a woman to land a role in a Broadway musical, the hilarious Tony Award-winning title keeps the jokes firing and the action zipping along at such a speedy clip that it mostly manages to rush right through some of the show's more problematic aspects.

Based on the 1982 movie starring Dustin Hoffman, the national tour of the musical "Tootsie" is playing the Civic Center through Nov. 20 as part of OKC Broadway's 2022-2023 season.

Here are the pros and cons of the show:

1. Pro: 'Tootsie' is uproariously funny.

Unless you're easily offended by profanity or risque humor, "Tootsie" is uproariously funny, the kind of show where your cheeks vaguely ache from laughing so much as you're leaving the theater.

Given how grim and stressful the past few years have been, a show that can make you laugh loudly and often is not to be taken for granted.

Robert Horn won a well-deserved Tony for penning the madcap musical's book, and he keeps this mixed bag of a show packed with a variety of humor, from pithily placed F-bombs to cheeky wordplay. The recurring gag about how the show-within-a-show's beleaguered cast remembers the exaggerated movements preferred by its obnoxious director-choreographer (Adam Du Plessis) entertains all the way through to the final bows.

2. Con: The songs are catchy but not especially memorable.

David Yazbek, who earned a 2018 Tony Award for "The Band's Visit" and is helping develop a musical about the twisty tale of famed Oklahoma outlaw Elmer McCurdy, snagged a Tony nomination for penning the music and lyrics for "Tootsie."

Several of the Yazbek's "Tootsie" tunes are lyrically clever and comical, especially the rapid-fire recurring theme "What's Gonna Happen," a musical panic attack that Sandy Lester (Payton Reilly), the lead character's neurotic ex-girlfriend and fellow struggling actor, has to deal with everytime she thinks about auditioning for a new role.

Although they're catchy and fun in the moment, the serviceable songs aren't particularly memorable. Sadly, they're not the kind of show tunes you'll find yourself humming or wanting to listen to in the coming days, despite the excellent efforts of the orchestra.

3. Pro: The cast and crew prove their skills with the fast-paced show.

Between the show-within-a-show elements and the numerous quick changes — including some that happen on stage right before the audience's eyes — "Tootsie" isn't the simplest show to stage.

The cast and crew of the national tour earn kudos for their able efforts; the ever-present chorus even makes the scenery swaps entertaining.

Drew Becker, who has been starring in the first national tour of the new musical comedy since it launched in October 2021, plays Michael Dorsey, an arrogant New York actor who has earned a reputation for being difficult and is increasingly desperate to find a new gig.

When his co-dependent ex, Sandy, asks him to help her prepare for her audition as the nurse in the new Shakespeare-inspired musical "Juliet's Curse," Michael is inspired. He plots to work around his bad reputation by reinventing himself as an actress named Dorothy Michaels and trying out for the same part that Sandy has been rehearsing. (It's one of the show's sizable plot holes that we never learn how Michael acquired the skills or resources to transform himself into a woman so convincingly that literally no one ever sees through his disguise.)

Not only does Michael land the role of the nurse but he also tells off the musical's odious yet iconic director choreographer Ron Carlisle (Du Plessis) for his sexist comments, impressing the show's wealthy producer, Rita Marshall (Kathy Halenda), and its leading lady, Julie Nichols (Ashley Alexandra, who has a strong voice and a promising stage presence).

Emboldened by his successful ruse, Michael sets out to help Rita and Julie shape up the mess of a musical, which has been devised as an ill-advised star vehicle for Max Van Horn (Matthew Rella), a dimwitted reality TV show victor who wants to make the leap to Broadway.

Despite the wise warnings from his best pal and roommate Jeff (understudy Matt Kurzyniec) that the scheme can't last and will eventually end in disaster, Michael's efforts as Dorothy to reform the show and make himself the star are so successful that Rita renames it "Juliet's Nurse." But Michael and Julie find themselves falling in love with him still in disguise, while Max also becomes infatuated with Dorothy.

It's a credit to Becker's considerable charm that he manages to keep us invested in the story of a character as entitled and annoying as Michael. William Ivey Long's costume designs, Paul Huntley's hair and wig designs and Angelina Avallone's make-up designs all are functional enough to suit the story's quick changes and attractive enough to please the eye.

As Jeff, Kurzyniec serves as an effective and likeable stand-in for the audience, especially when he gleefully delivers the profanity-laden Act II opening number "Jeff Sums It Up": He wants to see Michael get his deserved comeuppance but doesn't want his pal's wrongheaded scheme to completely destroy his life.

But Reilly manages to steal the show every time she seizes the stage as Sandy and performs her ongoing paranoid patter song "What's Gonna Happen," the show's musical highlight.

4. Con: 'Tootsie' seems undeniably outdated.

A fast-paced, funny and fanciful musical comedy, "Tootsie" just played on Broadway in 2019, but it can't help but seem much older and more outdated.

Although Sydney Pollack's satirical film earned 10 Oscar nominations — it won one, for Jessica Lange for best supporting actress — and the Library of Congress deemed it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" enough to add to the National Film Registry in 1998, the movie is still 40 years old.

At a time when drag shows are drawing proposed bans and even firebombs — and when state legislatures, including here in Oklahoma, are spending a lot of time debating what transgender people can and can't do — a comedy about a straight white man who dresses as a woman to gain an advantage seems odd.

The show's efforts to seem relevant to the #MeToo era — including Michael's not exactly world-shaking realization that being a woman in the entertainment business is hard — come across as fairly half-hearted.

The stage versions of Julie and Sandy may be more empowered than the movie's female supporting characters, but "Tootsie" remains a rather fantastical tale of a male actor who takes on the guise a woman and somehow finds himself given carte blanche to rewrite a new musical on Broadway, where women directors and creative teams are still woefully underrepresented.

"Tootsie" may keep audiences laughing, but that doesn't mean that some of the laughs aren't out of sheer disbelief.

'TOOTSIE'

When: Through Nov. 20.

Where: Civic Center, 201 N Walker.

Tickets and information: https://www.okcbroadway.com/tootsie.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: While still funny, parts of the musical 'Tootsie' are glaringly dated