|
'Some Like It Hot' is just right for dinner theater
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 4, 2001
[Times photo: Janel Schroeder]
Candler Budd, left, and Joe Lawrence rehearse Some Like It Hot, opening at the Show Palace Dinner Theater on Friday.
|
In 1999, the American Film Institute asked film historians, critics and industry people to choose the 100 funniest films of all time.
The No. 1 pick? Some Like It Hot, the 1959 Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe vehicle about Prohibition-era gangsters and the guys who become cross-dressers to avoid them.
On Friday, the Show Palace Dinner Theatre will open the musical version of that all-time favorite for a six-week run.
"I love the show, I think it's wonderful," said Steven Flaa, director and choreographer. The plot is close to the film's, he said, only "There are five or six big dance numbers."
The story starts when Joe and Jerry, two unemployed dance-band musicians, accidentally witness the St. Valentine's Day gangland massacre in Chicago. The chief hood, Spats Palazzo, wants them rubbed out so they can't squeal to the authorities.
To save their skins, Joe and Jerry dress up in women's clothes, become "Josephine" and "Daphne" and join the all-girl orchestra, Sweet Sue and her Society Syncopaters, on a trip to Miami for a gig.
On the train they meet Sugar Kane, a ukulele-playing singer with a fatal attraction to sweet-talking saxophone players, which is, coincidentally, just what Joe happens to be. At their posh Miami hotel, they meet Sir Osgood Fielding, a gazillionaire who falls for Jerry/Daphne and lavishes his newfound love with expensive gifts that "Daphne" finds hard to resist.
Some Like It Hot seems almost innocent by today's standards, but it was considered hot stuff (thus the name) in the late 1950s. Billy Wilder's direction and timelessly witty dialogue and the outrageous situations helped make it a classic.
And cross-dressing is always good for a laugh.
The cast will be led by Show Palace veterans Joe Lawrence as Joe/Josephine, Candler Budd as Jerry/Daphne and Laura Lynn Tapper as Sugar.
Equity actor Steven O'Neal plays Spats Palazzo.
Rounding out the cast are more actors familiar to Show Palace audiences: Tom Bengston, Sara Del Beato, Matthew McGee, Troy LaFon, John Fazzalari, Scott Wright and Steve Rossi. The Syncopaters are Celeste Miller Cummins, Adrienne Phillips, Chelle St. Pierre, Elizabeth Brandel, Emily Taylor and Wahnita Dow.
PREVIEW
Some Like It Hot opens Friday and continues through Feb. 11 at Show Palace Dinner Theatre, 16128 U.S. 19, Hudson. Showtimes: 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Jan. 27, Feb. 3 and Feb. 10; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 3 p.m. Sundays. Doors open two hours before each show for buffet and cash bar. Tickets for dinner and show: $35.95; show only, $24.95. Ages 12 and younger, $19.95 and $14.95.
Back to Weekend
© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
|
