How Some Like It Hot Star Adrianna Hicks Got Ready for Opening Night

When it came time for Some Like It Hot star Adrianna Hicks to think about getting dressed for the Broadway show’s opening night, she had history to contend with.

“Marilyn Monroe was the blueprint for my character, and she cannot be avoided,” Adrianna Hicks says. “She was iconic, but our director Casey Nicholaw told me, ‘we want this to be you, not Marilyn.’ So, of course we’re going to talk about Marilyn, but while this Sugar Kane has the same name, my feet are in her shoes.”

That mean that yes, Monroe would be an inspiration, but so would other stars like Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, and Josephine Baker. “This isn’t the movie Some Like It Hot,” Hicks says, “so I’ve also had all of those beautiful women in mind, thinking about how I’m representing Black women in leading roles in musical theater—and that’s huge.”

To plan her opening-night outfit, Hicks turned to stylist Greg Dassonville and designer Karen Sabag to create a look that referenced the Art Deco glamour of the show and the influence of those legendary leading ladies, but also embraced Hicks’s own modern style.

“Karen sketched what she had in mind and showed me the fabrics, and it was like yes,” Hicks recalls. “It felt like she was inside of my head. I showed her a photo of Marilyn from the premiere of How to Marry a Millionaire, and she saw that and tried to mix in other elements, like the bow in the back which is a nod to the classic pink dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. This dress was like a hybrid of the two mixed with me. At the final fitting it was perfect; I felt like a million bucks but also wondered, who is this person?”

Sabag says, “Once the sketch had been completed, my team started to work on the shape and corset. We were only able to have one fitting and I knew getting the shape right was the most important part. Adrianna and Greg came out to my shop two weeks ago for the fitting, and after that we got to work on draping the dress. All in, we spent close to 120 hours completing this dress from start to finish.”

That wasn’t all it required. “Once the sketch of the dress had been completed, I started filling in the gaps,” Dassonville explains. “I turned to Stuart Weitzman for a pair Stuart XCurve 100 Slingback pumps, a modern day ‘glass slipper,’ and for jewelry, I partnered with Beekman New York for a pair of moonstone, sapphire, and diamond drop earrings by Tiffany and Co. and finished Adrianna’s fingers off with gold and diamond rings by Versani NY.”

For Hicks, who prepared for the opening night at the Civilian Hotel in Manhattan, the outfit was an opportunity to pay tribute to the world of Some Like It Hot while also celebrating a milestone in her own life.

“I truly felt over the moon,” she says. “I was proud to be wearing such a beautiful gown representing the show, and it was an honor to take the stage with this amazing cast and company. I felt like a huge dream of mine came true. I wished for this as a kid, and having it happen was one of the highlights of my life.”

You Might Also Like

• Oprah’s Favorite Things of 2022 Is Here—Gift These 20 Amazing Finds This Year

• 12 Weekend Getaway Spas For Every Type of Occasion

• 13 Beauty Tools to Up Your At-Home Facial Game