For those who prefer it hot, the Broadway choreography now on stage at the Segerstrom Center scorches.
A touring production of “Some Like it Hot” has pellmelled into town.
It’s a vehicle fueled by an original, irresistibly melodic jazz-age score, a fleet-footed, Broadway-size 14-member dance corps and tap-based dancing supplemented by steps referencing everything from the Charleston and Lindy Hop to Latin dance accents of the rumba, samba and paso doble.
Director-choreographer — emphasis here on the latter — Casey Nicholaw has generated other terrific dance-driven comedies, including “Aladdin,” “Something Rotten!” and “Mean Girls,” all recently seen in Costa Mesa.
But this outing, crowned by a frantic, intricate and extended choreographed, door-slamming chase sequence called “Tip Tap Trouble,” is in its best moments a vibrant swirl.
Tavis Kordell (Jerry) and Matt Loehr (Joe) star in “Some Like It Hot,” playing through Oct. 19 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. (Photo by Matthew Murphy) Edward Juvier as Osgood, center, appears in a scene from”Some Like It Hot.” (Photo by Matthew Murphy) “Some Like It Hot” plays at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through Oct. 19. (Photo by Matthew Murphy) From left, Tommy Sutter, Jay Owens, Jamie LaVerdiere and Devon Goffman appear in a scene from “Some Like It Hot.” (Photo by Matthew Murphy) Devon Hadsell as Minnie appears in a scene from “Some Like It Hot.” (Photo by Matthew Murphy) Matt Loehr (Joe), Leandra Ellis-Gaston (Sugar) and Tavis Kordell (Jerry), center, are shown with the national touring company of “Some Like It Hot.” (Photo by Matthew Murphy) Show Caption1 of 6Tavis Kordell (Jerry) and Matt Loehr (Joe) star in “Some Like It Hot,” playing through Oct. 19 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. (Photo by Matthew Murphy) ExpandNicholaw had standout tunes to work with. Driving the dance elements, it’s hard to praise highly enough the ’30s-type music in “Some Like it Hot” from veteran theater and television songwriter Marc Shaiman.
Most familiar to audiences for his Tony-winning score for “Hairspray,” which mined early ’60s pop music, Shaiman has enthusiastically declared that for this jazzy period score he and co-lyricist Scott Wittman “… have been researching for this show our entire lives!”
Pretty much every song along the way channels his enthusiasm for the period. The title song and “You Can’t Have Me (If You Don’t Have Him)” especially feel as if they were pulled from an early MGM musical.
It’s important to stress that dance and music are the show’s key attributes because overall “Some Like it Hot” is saddled with an inconsistent book and stodgy scenes, especially in the first act.
But just when things bog down, threatening to tamp the energy altogether, never fear. The next dance break will recharge the show.
The source material is the beloved 1959 Billy Wilder screwball comedy of the same name, which famously featured Marilyn Monroe, and comedy-acting practitioners par excellence, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis.
The broad storyline for both movie and show goes as follows: In 1933 gang-ridden Chicago, two longtime pal musicians are the only witnesses who can testify to a mob shooting.
The duo needs to flee town, pronto. They seize as their best escape an impromptu option of donning women’s clothing and falsetto voices and renaming themselves, Joe to Josephine and Jerry to Daphne.
This allows them to surreptitiously hop a train carrying Sweet Sue and Her Society Syncopators, an all-girl swing band on its way for a gig at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego. The proximity to the Mexican border is essential for escaping any gangster pursuers.
Romantic chaos is a main part of the mix and in the1959 movie it came to unexpected conclusions for the time, in a comedic vein, about gender.
In a more serious and thoughtful way, the musical expands on and explores one of the main character’s embrace of self-discovery.
Actors Matt Loehr and Tavis Kordell are well-fitted as appealing co-leads in part through their contrasting aspects.
One is tall, one is not; one is White, one is Black; one manifests nerdy, impulsive self-confidence, the other is awash in taking an unexpected personal journey through which emotional discoveries are encountered and a better understanding of a true self emerges.
Beyond those characteristics, both are facile hoofers, each able enough at hitting the not always great punchlines they are required to land.
As Sweet Sue, the bawling mistress of ceremonies over her unruly charges in the band — “I just heard from the doctor. I tested negative for patience” — DeQuina Moore is an energetic, often flummoxed pleasure as she confronts indignities both self-created and amusing as well as combatting real world challenges of sexism and racism.
Leandra Ellis-Gaston, as Sugar, has a sizable voice that she manipulates to great effect especially in two solo numbers, the atmospheric, slow rising sizzles found in “A Darker Shade of Blue” and “Ride Out the Storm.”
The visuals are an attribute as well.
The overall look of Scott Pask’s useful scenic design is framed by neutral, but appealing attractive Art Deco visuals.
As one would hope for in a 1930s-era work, Gregg Barnes provides an appealing range of costumes, from everyday schmattes to eye-catching high-end gowns.
Not predictable advice, but for October you might consider dressing a bit lightly coming in to this one … after all, at Segerstrom right now, it’s hot inside.
‘Some Like It Hot’
Rating: 3 stars (out of 4)
When: Through Oct. 19. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa
Tickets: $39-$149
Information: 949-556-2787; www.scfta.org
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