Tony Awards spotlight: Adrianna Hicks (‘Some Like It Hot’) deserves notice for standout performance as Sugar

According to our combined predictions as of this writing, the five who are expected to receive Best Actress in a Musical nominations at this year’s Tony Awards are Victoria Clark (“Kimberly Akimbo”), Annaleigh Ashford (“Sweeney Todd”), Micaela Diamond (“Parade”), Sara Bareilles (“Into the Woods”), and Patina Miller (“Into the Woods”). However, there is a contender I think deserves to be in the conversation much more, and that would be Adrianna Hicks (“Some Like It Hot”).

In this stage musical adaptation of Billy Wilder‘s 1959 Academy Award-winning film of the same name, Hicks plays Sugar Kane, the lead singer of an all-girl band. While venturing out to San Diego, she develops a friendship with the band’s newest musicians who happen to be a pair of men disguising themselves as women to escape the mob. One of them in particular, Joe/Josephine, falls in love with Sugar. Hicks had huge shoes to fill given that she’s taking on a role made famous on screen by Marilyn Monroe.

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However, book writers Matthew López and Amber Ruffin successfully reimagined that character to allow any actress playing it not to fall victim to comparisons to the legendary bombshell. For one, Sugar in this musical is African-American, so that shows audiences a different point of view. And unlike in the original movie where Sugar dreams of finding love, here she dreams of finding Hollywood stardom. We learn all about that through her solo near the end of Act I titled “At the Old Majestic Nickel Matinee.”

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So Hicks didn’t have to worry about stepping into Monroe’s shoes. She instead created her own shoes. Not to mention that Sugar also has a couple of standout moments in Act II. At one point, she has the line, “I’m the first Sugar Kane,” which got quite a bit of cheering from the audience at the performance I attended. She also gets another big solo number near the end of the show titled “Ride Out the Storm,” in which she pours out her heart and soul after experiencing some heartbreak. In a musical filled with comedic mayhem, Sugar really is the heart of it all.

Critics agree that Hicks is worthy of a Tony nomination. In his review for the New York Times, Jesse Green writes, “In dissipating the Marilyn Monroe aura that might otherwise cling to the material from her famous turn in the movie, they give Hicks a completely compelling aura of her own.” Meanwhile, Frank Rizzo (Variety) thinks she makes Sugar “more of a real person and less a sexual goddess, though still full of allure. With Hicks’ fine vocals, this Sugar is clearly headed for a bigger and better career than fronting for a resort band.”

One major hurdle that may prevent Adrianna Hicks from getting nominated is how crowded Best Actress in a Musical is this year. It not only consists of previous winners such as Ashford, Clark, and Miller, but also previous nominees such as the aforementioned Bareilles (although this is her first time in contention for acting as opposed to songwriting) and Phillipa Soo (“Camelot”). Plus, there are several more contenders vying for their first nominations such as Lorna Courtney (“& Juliet”), the aforementioned Diamond, Linedy Genao (“Bad Cinderella”), Crystal Lucas-Perry (“1776”), Luna (“KPOP”), and Anna Uzele (“New York, New York”).

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Marilyn Monroe won a Golden Globe for her performance in the original film, but was overlooked for an Academy Award nomination, which is one of the biggest injustices in Oscar history. When “Some Like It Hot” was first adapted into a Broadway show with 1972’s “Sugar,” it earned four Tony nominations (including Best Musical). Yet, Elaine Joyce, who took on the role of Sugar, was overlooked for a Best Actress in a Musical bid.

However, we have seen in the past that nominators are willing to recognize performers with more or less a blank slate over more established names. In 2016 Carmen Cusack surprisingly showed up in this category for her Broadway debut in “Bright Star” over six-time winner Audra McDonald in “Shuffle Along,” which showed that name recognition alone doesn’t get you nominated. In 2017 Eva Noblezada made the cut for her Broadway debut in the most recent revival of “Miss Saigon” over two-time nominee Laura Osnes in “Bandstand.”

Plus, “Some Like It Hot” is currently expected to receive nine nominations overall. Among them are Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (for Christian Borle and J. Harrison Ghee), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (for Natasha Yvette Williams), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (for Kevin Del Aguila), Best Direction of a Musical (for Casey Nicholaw), Best Original Score (for Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman), Best Book of a Musical (for López and Ruffin), and Best Choreography (for Nicholaw). If the nominating round really goes its way, Hicks could show up as a potential coattail bid.

PREDICT the 2023 Tony Award nominees through May 2

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