Cadillac Palace Theater

Tootsie – Cadillac Palace Theater – October 7, 2018

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The Tootsie Roll company was founded in Chicago in 1907 by Leo Hirshfield. This has absolutely nothing to do with the musical Tootsie.

Al Jolson sang Toot, Toot, Tootsie! in The Jazz Singer in 1927. This also has absolutely nothing to do with the musical Tootsie.

Mrs. Doubtfire was a 1993 movie, which has never been turned into a play (although it’s under consideration), starring Robin Williams, in which he pretended to be a woman to get a job as a nannie for his ex-wife. And, although that movie has absolutely nothing to do with the musical Tootsie, an inordinate number of people attending Tootsie seemed to think they had come to see a theatrical version of Mrs. Doubtfire, as evidenced by confused discussions overheard during intermission.

I guess it could have been worse. They could have thought they were watching a revival of the play Sugar, based on the movie Some Like it Hot (more men pretending to be women), or wondered why they weren’t seeing Al Jolson sucking on a Tootsie Roll.

My favorite bits in the show were an x-rated song by Tootsie’s roommate, a rant of a song by Tootsie’s friend Sandy, and some dance instruction by the director of the show within the show that channelled Robin Williams, but still, no, this wasn’t Mrs. Doubtfire.

Santino Fontana was a terrific Tootsie. And no one confused him with Santino Corleone, Carlos Santana, or Fontana, Wisconsin. However, his part of Greg on Crazy ex Girl Friend is being taken over by Skyler Astin, which is sure to produce some confusion.

Tootsie is scheduled to open in previews on Broadway in March 29, 2019. Though its competition in the musical category may include Beetlejuice, Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations, The Cher Show, and King Kong, I believe that Tootsie, which is a laugh a minute, will win, at a minimum, some individual Tony awards. But who knows. The part of King Kong hasn’t been cast yet.

On Your Feet (The Emilio & Gloria Estefan Broadway Musical) – Cadillac Palace Theater – April 7, 2018

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The one time I don’t sit on the aisle at a play, the cast comes dancing down both middle aisles right before intermission, interacting with the audience, even inviting a few of the patrons sitting on the aisles to stand up and join in the fun. Thus I miss my chance to make a complete fool of myself in front of hundreds of people.  Darn.

The audience was ready to party from the start of the show, including the six young women who sat in the row in front of us, exuding excitement. As they funneled in, Cindy said they looked as if they were sisters. Good call. They turned out to be four sisters and two sisters-in-law, which caused Cindy to make some reference to the Duggar family, apparently a reality tv show family with 19 children, of which I was unaware, and so I kept asking Cindy to repeat what she was saying, thinking that she was saying Donner family and wondering why she was comparing this innocent looking group of young ladies, out to have a good time, to a group of cannibals.

Until we cleared up that confusion at intermission, I kept my eyes on the ladies, just in case. Also, at intermission, half the audience pulled out their smart phones and started searching online for information on Gloria Estefan’s mother, who, we were told in the show, had been offered, but had declined, prior to her daughter’s birth, the chance to leave Cuba to go to Hollywood to dub Shirley Temple’s singing voice in Spanish.

I was just as interested in the actress playing the mother, whose name looked familiar. Looking at her credits in the program, I probably have seen her before, but I think the reason her name looked familiar is, I discovered, that she is the sister of the woman who played Melina in Total Recall. So, close but no cigar, Cuban or otherwise.