Tootsie to close on Broadway in January
It’s time for Santino Fontana to hang up his heels.
On Monday, producers announced a closing date for Broadway’s Tootsie, the musical based on the 1982 film of the same name. The production will play its final performance at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre on Sunday, Jan. 5, wrapping after 293 regular and 25 preview performances.
It’s far from the end of the road for the musical, however, as the announcement also comes with the news of a national tour that will launch in Buffalo, N.Y. in October 2020. Further dates, cities, and casting will be announced at a later date. Several international productions are also currently in the works.
Inspired by the 1982 Dustin Hoffman-led film of the same name, Tootsie details the career of Michael Dorsey, an egotistical actor who finds a new lease on his career when he dresses in drag as Dorothy Michaels for an audition. Soon, as Dorothy, Michael is finding his career on the rise as the supporting actress in a Broadway-bound new musical intended to be a sequel to Romeo and Juliet. Not to mention, Michael is learning lessons about femininity, misogyny, and falling in love with his leading lady (Lilli Cooper) in the meanwhile.
“If you go into a dress and heels and deal with the upkeep that is required of you, you’re going to immediately empathize with the people that have to do that,” Fontana told EW this spring. “You’re literally walking in somebody else’s shoes and you’re forced to look at the world slightly differently, and that opportunity to try on another persona is something that is incredibly meta because what Michael is going through is also what I’m going through in that sense.”
The musical, which also stars Lilli Cooper, Sarah Stiles, John Behlmann, Andy Grotelueschen, Julie Halston, Michael McGrath, and Reg Rogers, opened in April 2019, and it features an original score by David Yazbek (The Band’s Visit), as well as a book by Robert Horn (13). Denis Jones choreographed, while nine-time Tony nominee Scott Ellis (She Loves Me) directed.
Tootsie took home two Tony Awards back in June, for Best Book of a Musical and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical to Santino Fontana for his double duty as Michael/Dorothy. It was nominated for 11 Tony Awards in total, including Best Musical.
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Tootsie, with Santino Fontana, gets all dressed up for Broadway: EW review
