nightmayer

On a matinee day especially you have to wonder how many physical therapists are backstage at Broadway’s “Some Like It Hot” to tend to all those tap and swing dancers. We saw a Wednesday night performance and left giddy with delight; standing in Shubert Alley as the cast emerged after the show, they were clearly ready to hightail it home. You couldn’t blame them.

A cavalcade of non-stop 11 o’clock numbers by songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman started from the opener and never let up. Those songs were further enlivened by all those tappers and swingers (plaudits to choreographer/director Casey Nicholaw) outfitted in eye-popping costumes (Gregg Barnes). And the book has been meaningfully updated from the 1959 film by Matthew López and Amber Ruffin, paying all due homage (and copping lines as appropriate), without getting overboard serious. This is a pure fun show, after all.

One complaint: The orchestra is so over-amplified I kept wanting to turn the volume down, and in the course of that blast the singing is consistently drowned out. That said, the cast gives its all throughout.

For those who qualify, as I write this there are eight upcoming performances at TDF.org for significantly reduced price tickets, including this Saturday night. The house was probably less than two-thirds full. Go, and then you, too, will be inclined to help spread the word-of-mouth.