Regional Theatre of the Palouse’s ‘Tootsie’ ‘will push the envelope,’ with nod to more modern themes

When “Tootsie” was released in 1982, it was an instant success. The movie, which starred Dustin Hoffman as a struggling actor who creates a female persona in order to find work, combined social commentary with comedy in a way that resonated with audiences.

The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning Best Supporting Actress for Jessica Lange as Julie Nichols, and became one of the highest-grossing films of 1982.

In 2018, a musical adaptation of the film opened in Chicago before moving to Broadway the following year. The Broadway production earned 11 Tony Awards nominations, winning for Best Book of a Musical and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for Santino Fontana.

Both the film and the musical weren’t without criticisms, however, especially when many jokes center on a man wearing a dress.

The Regional Theatre of the Palouse team understands the criticisms but believes it’s possible to produce the show in a way that’s respectful while still being fun. Their production of “Tootsie” opens Thursday and runs through Feb. 23.

“This show, we feel, will push the envelope in a lot of ways to expand the repertoire for our audiences, and it helps make the concoction of an ideal season,” director Michael Todd said. “We opened with a classic Golden Age musical with ‘Camelot,’ and then did a family-friendly show with children with ‘Scrooge.’ This one being a premiere, a bit more edgy, a bit more PG-13 to appeal to a different audience, while expanding people’s tastes.”

“Tootsie” centers on Michael Dorsey (Andres Felipe), a struggling actor who is fired for making a scene during rehearsals for a show directed by Ron Carlisle. After this incident, he can’t find acting work.

Michael complains about this to his roommate Jeff Slater while at the steakhouse where they work. As it happens to be Michael’s 40th birthday, Jeff decides to read aloud the bucket list Michael wrote when he was 19, which makes Michael upset about how little he’s accomplished.

After work, Michael’s ex-girlfriend Sandy Lester arrives at his and Jeff’s apartment for Michael’s birthday party and immediately starts complaining about how terrible her life is. She then gets Michael to help her with an audition for the musical “Juliet’s Curse,” which she is really nervous about.

Michael then goes to his agent Stan Fields and demands to know why he didn’t receive a call back. Stan tells him he is difficult to work with and will never work again. Michael storms out of the office and makes his way home. While there, he starts looking through Sandy’s script for “Juliet’s Curse,” gets an idea and heads to the auditions.

At the auditions for the role of the Nurse, hopeful after hopeful is turned away, including Sandy. Michael’s newly created female alter ego Dorothy Michaels then enters the room, sings and is hired by Carlisle and producer Rita Marshall (Becky Saunders).

Michael, still dressed as Dorothy, meets Jeff at the steakhouse and lets him in on his secret identity. Jeff tells Michael what he’s doing is stupid and harmful to women. Jeff is worried about how Sandy will react, but Michael says he isn’t going to tell her.

The next day at rehearsals, Dorothy realizes how big of a mess “Juliet’s Curse” is. She meets Max Van Horn, an airhead reality star who is playing Romeo’s brother Craig, and Julie Nichols (Daphne Gunn), who is playing Juliet.

As rehearsals continue, Dorothy and Julie form a friendship and devise a way to improve the show that involves having Craig fall in love with the Nurse instead of Juliet. Pleased by her plan, the crew makes Dorothy the leader of the show, which is renamed “Juliet’s Nurse.”

Dorothy and Julie then head back to Julie’s apartment, where Julie shares more about herself. As she talks, Michael realizes he’s in love with Julie. From there, Michael must work to maintain his success as Dorothy without revealing his true identity while also trying to win Julie’s heart, all, of course, to varying degrees of success.

The musical features music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Robert Horn. It is based on the 1982 film, which features a screenplay by Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal based on a story by Gelbart and Don McGuire.

The musical is set in 2019, but the RTOP team decided to set their production in the 1980s in line with the film, complete with ’80s costumes and technology, even though there are some anachronisms with mentions of iPhones and selfies.

“It’s a musical comedy and the absurdity or the juxtaposition of the two just adds to that layer by design,” Todd said. “We thought highlighting the ’80s would be a good nod to the film and such fun costumes. Who doesn’t love those bright neon leg warmers?”

In another nod to the ’80s, the team is excited to have a sketch from cult classic “Labyrinth,” starring David Bowie, as a prop in Julie’s apartment. Todd is also excited about a hot plate in Michael’s apartment that says “Dorothy’s Kitchen,” an homage to his Grandma Dorothy and a potential backstory for how Michael chooses his female persona’s name.

Felipe is excited to see his face pop up “in odd places” throughout the show, so audiences should keep their eyes peeled.

Both Todd and RTOP Executive Director John Rich said Felipe was the perfect actor to play Michael and Dorothy because he was able to play both roles equally.

“One thing about ‘Tootsie,’ the musical and the film, is that you have to get a very special actor to play the role of Dorothy and Michael,” Rich said. “If you don’t have that, it can become a caricature, because it’s really this male actor who is so temperamental he can’t get work, and he gets this opportunity, and he goes overboard, and he becomes, as an actor, this character of Dorothy Michael. It’s a very defined degree of how that’s played, because you don’t want one character to be played more than the other.”

Felipe and the production team had a lot of conversations during the rehearsal process to make sure they were going in the right direction for both roles. They wanted audiences to care, Felipe said, just as much about Michael’s growth over the course of the show as they did while Dorothy was at centerstage.

Starring in “Tootsie” isn’t something Felipe ever envisioned for himself, but not because he didn’t want it. As a gay man, this show requires him to play a straight man (Michael) playing a woman (Dorothy) who is playing another woman (Juliet’s nurse).

“That’s not something I ever thought I would be presented an opportunity to be challenged with, and I absolutely love it,” he said. “I’m having such a blast doing it.”

To differentiate the roles, Felipe explored different physicalities and mental states for each character. He then worked to make sure he was thinking five steps ahead while rehearsing to ensure he was ready for wherever the story took Michael or Dorothy.

That planning ahead brings “Tootsie,” and the stories of Michael and Dorothy to a satisfying conclusion. Though Michael created Dorothy, Todd said Michael is the one who is most impacted by her presence.

“Dorothy gives Michael a really wonderful gift at the end of the show, and a lot of that has to do with both of their characters being given their freedom, if you will,” he said.