‘Some Like It Hot’ pairs old-fashioned Broadway pizzazz with contemporary message

“Some Like It Hot” — 3 stars

“Some Like It Hot,” the peppy 2022 musical adapted from Billy Wilder’s 1959 screwball comedy starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe is not your grandfather’s “Some Like it Hot.”

While the pursuit of sex and security (as in money) animated the film farce, director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw’s merrily staged tuner examines weightier issues — specifically gender, race and identity — with humor and heart.

For the record, the Tony Award-winning “Some Like It Hot” marks the classic film’s second musical incarnation. The first “Sugar,” by composer Jule Styne, lyricist Bob Merrill and writer Peter Stone, premiered on Broadway in 1972 and ran for 15 months.

This version features a swinging, old-school Broadway score courtesy of composer/lyricist Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman. One of the show’s delights are the lush Tony-winning orchestrations by Charlie Rosen and Bryan Carter played by music director Mark Binns’ 12-member orchestra.

The quippy book, which features fleeting references to other Broadway shows and American standards, is by Matthew Lopez and Amber Ruffin. Lopez and Ruffin tweaked some elements, but the story mostly echoes the screenplay by Wilder and writer I.A.L. Diamond, which centers around a pair of Chicago musicians: Joe, a saxophone player, and Jerry, a double bassist. After witnessing a mob hit, the longtime friends — to avoid getting whacked themselves — dress up as women (Josephine and Daphne) and join Sweet Sue’s all-female band fronted by the comely singer Sugar, who catches Joe’s eye.

Unlike the film, which is set in 1929, the musical unfolds in 1933, during Prohibition’s final days. The characters are racially diverse. Joe/Josephine (Matt Loehr, a song-and-dance man of the highest order) is white. Jerry/Daphne (Tavis Kordell in a subtly transformative, entirely credible performance) is Black. So is Sugar (Leandra Ellis-Gaston, an impressive belter who’s equally skilled at delivering a bluesy torch song), bandleader Sweet Sue (Tarra Conner Jones, a powerhouse) and several of her musicians. Accustomed to dealing with racism and sexism, they describe how they handle bullies and boors in the jaunty, scat-heavy “Zee Bap,” one of several empowering numbers in the show.

Arriving in the golden state, Loehr’s smitten Joe pretends to be a German screenwriter named Kip in order to romance Sugar. Meanwhile, millionaire Osgood Fielding III (an endearingly goofy Edward Juvier) pursues Daphne.

As for Daphne, pretending to be a woman helped clarify her gender identity, something Kordell poignantly expresses in “You Coulda Knocked Me Over with a Feather” (one of three 11 o’clock numbers and two too many).

“For weeks I’ve had a funny feeling/That something was revealin’. Now this genie’s out the bottle/And she ain’t goin’ back,” insists Kordell’s Daphne during the epiphanic number, which acknowledges “the lady that I’m loving is me.”

That expression of self-actualization is followed by a tender, of-the-moment expression of acceptance from Loehr’s Joe, confirming his allyship with his best friend. It is a touching testament to their enduring bond reflected in Loehr and Kordell’s terrific first act duet “You Can’t Have Me (If You Don’t Have Him).”

An anti-bigotry anthem performed by a pair of first-tier hoofers, it’s a terrific tap dance, the first of several in Nicholaw’s taptastic production, the first act of which concludes with the exuberant titular number.

The ballads belong to Ellis-Gaston, who sings three of them. The best is “At the Old Majestic Nickel Matinee,” a reflection of the importance of visibility in which Sugar recalls watching from the balcony of a segregated movie theater, films that excluded people of color, like her.

On a lighter note, the breezy, brassy “Let’s Dance the World Away” looks like something out of a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film. It features Ellis-Gaston in a gorgeous white bejeweled gown and a tuxedo-clad Loehr (the dazzling costumes are by Gregg Barnes) waltzing against a starry backdrop. It comes courtesy of lighting designer Natasha Katz and set designer Scott Pask, whose Art Deco sets are sleek and elegant.

“Some Like It Hot” is an exuberantly performed, briskly paced show. That said, not all the emotions are earned, some of the songs feel like filler, the second act chase goes on a bit too long and the last line of the film (a bold statement for its time, which in hindsight paved the way for this incarnation), gets lost in the finale, diluting its significance.

More affecting and more effective was Joe and Daphne’s exchange that occurred a few scenes earlier — an expression of mutual respect and acceptance that resonates across generations.

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Location: Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago, (800) 775-2000, broadwayinchicago.com, somelikeithotmusical.com

Showtimes: 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; 1 and 7 p.m. Wednesday; 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 3. Also 6:30 p.m. Oct. 27

Running time: About 2 hours 45 minutes, with intermission

Tickets: $30-$125

Parking: Paid lots nearby

Rating: For teens and older; adult language, sexual situations