Theater review: ‘Tootsie’ at The Bushnell is more thoughtful and funnier than you might expect

Some Broadway musicals based on classic Hollywood movies try to recapture the original’s style as closely as humanly possible, the biggest changes being that the shows are live and the actors sing. Others take the title and bare bones of the movie and head off in whole new directions, for better or worse.

“Tootsie” is the best of both worlds. You’re happily reminded of the best parts of the movie that spawned it, but this musical also has its own reasons for being. The first national tour of the show, based on the Tony-winning production that ran on Broadway from April 2019 through January 2020, is at The Bushnell through Sunday.

“Tootsie” begins promisingly, by looking and sounding like crap. Fresh-faced chorus members with pasted-on grins sing a hokey and derivative song about New York in front of a wrinkled cloth backdrop of a city skyline. You’re just starting to worry — this “Tootsie” is in fact a non-Equity tour that has been on the road for over a year —when it’s revealed that this shoddy NYC inanity is a deliberately awful show-within-a-show.

This is how we meet the angry and frustrated actor Michael Dorsey, who argues about his sole line in the show because of the elaborate backstory he’s built for this fleeting nonentity of a character. The flimsy New York backdrop falls and is replaced by a much flashier skyline. The chorus members drop the fake smiles and gain charm and depth, and “Tootsie” has accomplished its first big laugh-filled fake-out. The next one, of course, is when Michael decides to dress as a woman to get an audition, nabs the role and changes his life.

There are understandable concerns about a musical based on a 1982 movie about a man pretending to be a woman for a job. How can any “Tootsie” navigate the very different dialogue about inequity and gender roles that’s happening today and stay funny? Yet this musical is not only unafraid to be set in the 20th century, it knows that its comedy can no longer rest on men aggressively intimidating women or the idea that lesbianism is shocking. It knows that it has a whole other stream of mirth to mine: self-obsessed theater actors and directors.

“Tootsie” dispenses with the awkwardness of its potentially misogynistic setup easily and often. Everyone who is in on Michael’s deception is happy to inform him that his masquerade is “an insult to all women” or “an uncharted form of theatrical suicide.” It’s also made clear that Michael doesn’t become Dorothy as any sort of anti- (or, indeed, pro-) woman statement. He’s simply so delusionally self-confident about his acting abilities that he feels he can play any role, whether it’s a small child (in a failed audition) or a 40-year-old woman who in turn insists on playing roles that directors aren’t considering her for. It helps that the actor playing Michael, Drew Becker, is sweet and puppylike. Michael’s got bad instincts, but his friends (and the audience) are inclined to forgive him.

The musical, like the Dustin Hoffman movie before it, is as much about the struggles of being an artist in New York as about seeking romance or self-worth there.

“Tootsie”'s book is by Robert Horn, a reliably funny writer whose crowdpleasing credits range from the Disney Channel’s “Teen Beach” movies to the stage version of Disney’s “Hercules.” He adds dozens of fresh one-liners to “Tootsie” that fit well with the memorable lines from the movie — high praise, since that original screenplay had contributions from the likes of Larry Gelbert, Elaine May, Murray Schisgal and Bill Murray.

The songs are by David Yazbek, who rarely works on a musical that is not based on a movie and who brings an almost mystical versatility to his composing. “Tootsie” sounds nothing like the Yazbek show that played The Bushnell last year, “The Band’s Visit.” Where “The Band’s Visit” was lyrical and multi-cultural and moody, the “Tootsie” score is snappy and silly, with patter songs and clever wordplay and catchy melodies. It’s also joyfully engaged in the same self-parodic “theater is crazy” games as the rest of the show.

“Tootsie” the musical makes some major changes to the movie’s plot. Sandy, the neurotic friend played by Teri Garr doesn’t get pulled into a relationship with Michael here; she’s established as his ex-girlfriend at the beginning of the show. Julie, the castmate who befriends Dorothy (and to whom Michael becomes attracted) is played gently yet firmly by Ashley Alexandra, her sensitivity aided by some stirring songs of empowerment. The male castmate who has a crush on Dorothy (called John Van Horn in the movie, Max Van Horn here) is not a lecherous old man as in the movie but a dumb young reality-TV star who’s new to Broadway. Matthew Rella plays Max with the blissful innocence of a cartoon teenager.

The biggest change from “Tootsie” the movie to “Tootsie” the Broadway musical is that the role Michael wins as Dorothy is not in a soap opera but in a (meta alert!) Broadway musical. The show’s called “Juliet’s Curse” but due to Dorothy’s improvements gets a name change to “Juliet’s Nurse” with Dorothy as the star. This setting lets “Tootsie” pile on dozens more theater in-jokes and also hone in more tightly on its whole play-acting premise.

For a tour that’s been on the road this long, and which indulges in some refreshingly unorthodox casting choices to underscore its central theme that people are not always as they seem, “Tootsie” is top-flight in how professionally wildly entertaining it can be. The comic timing is impeccable, especially the exquisite pauses and sullen stares of Jared David Michael Grant as Michael’s roommate Jeff. Grant can convey more hilarious incredulity with one raised eyebrow than most actors can do with their whole bodies — and he can do wild physical comedy as well! As Sandy, Payton Reilly gets entire songs, and a couple of room-wrecking rampages, to show off her comical self-destructive low-esteem issues. The wackier characters like Max, Sandy and the unhinged director Ron Carlisle (Adam Du Plessis) are countered by more down-to-earth ones like Julie and Jeff. A dozen chorus members are constantly in motion, serving as a whole city full of supporting characters.

“Tootsie” is in a great tradition of backstage shows about how odd it can be to be an actor. It’s also in a great tradition of comedy routines about changing clothes in a hurry and slamming doors to keep friends from learning ridiculous secrets. It’s also vaguely about gender inequality and women’s rights. Like its star, it stands up for itself, keeps moving and remembers to stay funny.

“Tootsie” runs through Feb. 26 at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Performances are Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. $35-$135. bushnell.org.

Christopher Arnott can be reached at carnott@courant.com.