The Teatro in Leichhardt has been the site of many interesting musicals in its first year and Tootsie is the next musical in its lineup, turning the 1982 film starring Dustin Hoffman into a stage musical. The opening night crowd was packed out as the musical followed Michael Dorsey, who cannot find work as an actor, as he dresses up as Dorothy Michaels to land a huge part and turn himself into a Broadway star, only as a woman, before things begin to take a turn and chaos ensues.

This very much is a tale of two halves, with the comedy of the show being generally very entertaining and exciting for the audience, with laughs scattered throughout the musical, while the songs are, to be frank, quite woeful most of the time. This makes for a very inconsistent show, with some great material to work with and some material that means the actors have to do a lot on stage to sell it. While the story’s themes of identity and deceit occasionally shine through, it is the comedy that is the production’s greatest strength.

The cast is extremely strong, with Elenoa Rokobara doing a fantastic job as Julie Nichols, delivering strong vocals and a great presence on stage while Tyran Stig is absolutely hilarious as Michael’s flatmate Jeff Slater, bringing a wonderful comedic presence to all of his scenes. Andrew Bevis also has a strong presence and handles the demanding dual role well but faces the challenge of singing as both a man and a woman throughout the show, which leads to a few vocal faults at times. Alana Tranter is also very entertaining as Sandy Lester, bringing plenty of energy to the role and making a strong impression whenever she is on stage while the rest of the ensemble also do a very strong job, with Lachlan O’Brien as Ron Carlisle and Brendan Irving as Max Van Horn among the other standouts in the production.

As always with productions at the Teatro, the team has done extremely well on a very small budget to put together a show that feels glitzy and professional, with Dan Potra’s retro set design providing a really nice touch. Cameron Mitchell’s choreography is incredibly tight, with the ensemble really nailing the sharp choreography, while the pacing and transitions keep the show moving briskly. Angela White’s costuming is also very strong and all of the theatrical magic around this show is quite exceptional. It’s hard to fathom that the orchestra plays in a completely separate room, as the connection to the cast is seamless and adds very nicely to the show, while Nicholas Till’s musical direction keeps everything tightly together throughout.

Overall, this is a solid production with some incredible comedy to keep the audience entertained through very clever jokes and great execution by the more comedic members of the cast. Unfortunately, the cast is fighting somewhat of an uphill battle with songs that feel very tacked on and don’t add much to the musical however, they do a good job of bringing out the stronger parts of the musical and showcasing the comedy of the premise. If this were a play, it would perhaps be even better but as a musical it still works well and fits nicely into the ambience of the charming Teatro, which led to a strong reception on opening night. The Teatro has done some great work in the past year, so it will be interesting to see what they do next.

Rating: ★★★1/2

Tootsie plays at the Teatro until 21 June. For more information, click here.

All photo credits: Robert Miniter