The musical made its world premiere try-out at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago in September 2018.
Like the film, the musical tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to adopt a new identity as a woman in order to land a job.
The original movie revolved around a daytime soap opera, while the show involves a Broadway musical.
[2][3] The musical has music and lyrics by David Yazbek with the book by Robert Horn, choreography by Denis Jones, scenic design by David Rockwell, costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting by Donald Holder and direction by Scott Ellis.
[4][5] Santino Fontana starred as Michael Dorsey,[6] with Lilli Cooper as Julie Nichols, Sarah Stiles as Sandy Lester, John Behlmann as Max Van Horn, Andy Grotelueschen as Jeff Slater, Julie Halston as Rita Mallory, Michael McGrath as Stan Fields and Reg Rogers as Ron Carlisle.
[3][7] The Broadway production began previews on March 29, 2019, at the Marquis Theatre and opened on April 23, 2019.
[10] On May 16, 2019, it was announced that a Non-Equity US national tour would begin in 2020 at Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, New York.
Finally, additional productions were announced for New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan.
[11] Michael Dorsey, a struggling actor, is fired after causing a scene during rehearsals in a show directed by Ron Carlisle.
While closing up the steakhouse they work at, Michael complains to his roommate, Jeff Slater, that nobody wants to hire him.
Sandy Lester, Michael's neurotic ex-girlfriend, arrives at their apartment for his birthday and immediately starts bickering about how terrible her life is.
Michael goes to his agent, Stan Fields, that afternoon and demands to know why he didn't get called back.
She sings the audition song and is hired by Ron and Rita ("I Won't Let You Down").
She meets the dimwit reality star winner of Race to Bachelor Island, Max Van Horn, who was cast as Romeo's brother named Craig.
They perform the song of Juliet celebrating her survival, choreographed by Ron Carlisle ("I'm Alive").
After a few days at rehearsal, Dorothy improvises getting Craig to fall in love with the Nurse instead of Juliet.
Michael heads back home to tell Jeff about his day with Julie, which is interrupted by Sandy at the door.
She agrees to it, but panics knowing that something will go wrong and Michael will probably stand her up ("What's Gonna Happen Reprise").
Dorothy quickly rejects her, upsetting Julie, who thought they had started something special ("Who Are You Reprise").
He goes and proclaims his love to Dorothy through a ballad and an infected tattoo of her face on his chest ("This Thing").
Dorothy interrupts the song as Nurse, and begins improvising, with Max joining her as Craig halfway.
Michael comes home the morning after, and in between his regret, realizes how creating Dorothy widened his empathy towards the women in his life.
Julie at first retorts his damage was to everyone in the production as well as her, and when she relays the vast disappointment and bias that women experience, Michael vows to listen to anything she needs conveying.
Critic Chris Jones praised the musical in its Chicago premiere for getting many things right, while giving notes for the future Broadway production.
[13] While Michael Phillips commented on the difficulty of translating the early 1980s movie to stage—especially in an era of more gender fluidity—Phillips noted the reviews have ranged "from so-so to very good", while also observing the "opening night laughs were plentiful and the performances savvy".