2 minute read
Q&A with Tootsie’s Tony® Award Winner
Q&A with Tootsie’s Tony Award® Winning Book Writer Robert Horn
TOOTSIE • Sept 29 - Oct 2
Sponsored by Country Bank Tickets on sale August 1
Jared David Michael Grant as Jeff Slater, Drew Becker as Michael Dorsey and Payton Reilly as Sandy Lester in the national tour of Tootsie. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.
Q: How did the idea to adapt Tootsie for theater come about and what excited you about this idea?
A: “Everything about theater excites me... and also gives me heartburn. The idea came from our prolific and wonderful producer, Scott Sanders, who had the rights to the movie. He had seen a workshop I had done for another musical, and when the legendary Larry Gelbart, who wrote the film and was adapting the musical, passed away, Scott went on a desperate search to find someone to fill Larry’s comedic shoes. Somehow, his GPS pointed towards me and I am forever grateful. “When he approached me about it, I got very nervous. I mean, it’s an iconic movie and comic masterpiece, but it also has content and plot points that I knew did not age well. I was terrified to take it on at first and passed on the offer. But then I sat down with the composer, David Yazbek, and we talked out all the ways we could make it our own, update it, go back to just the DNA of the story and rebuild it out from there. Use humor to tell the story in a theatrical and modern way. “For me, having been in show business for a while, I totally understand that ominous question we all eventually face: what happens when the time comes that no one wants you... when you’re told you can no longer do the one thing you love most in the world? How far would desperation take you? It’s something that haunts everyone in this business, no matter how successful. To me, that was a story worth building on... since it feeds my neurosis constantly.”
Q: What would you say are the greatest highlights of the show?
A: “The real commerce of this show is its comedy, its tone and, of course, the clown car of actors that brings it to life every night. The comedy comes at you with such love, then there are these hysterical songs by David Yazbek that at once have you laughing and moments later thinking.”
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add about creating the show, what makes it so wonderful or why people should go see it?
A: “When I watch audiences watch the show and hear that tsunami of communal laughter that just builds and builds throughout the night and lifts the ceiling, I wish I could let audiences know that writing the show was that exact same experience. Constant laughter, community, self-reflection, joy, friendships and a love of this artform.
“Also, supporting the arts SAFELY right now is a vital step in creating a new normal and getting back to our lives. And what better way to come out of the cave of isolation we’ve all been in, than with laughter!”
