One of the best new musicals to come out in recent years (aside from Hamilton, of course) is Tootsie with music and lyrics by David Yazbek. The show didn’t debut until September 2018 and came to Broadway in 2019. While it doesn’t have the history or reputation as some other Broadway musicals, Tootsie has quickly become a hit. It provides a new twist on the classic story of trying to make it in show business. If you’re looking for a reason to see it, look no further than the fact that the show earned 11 Tony nominations and two wins, including Best Book of a musical. In other words, both the story and the performances will knock your socks off.

Silver Screen to the Big Stage

If you’re not sold on seeing Tootsie on stage, considering watching the movie that inspired it first. In 1982, Sydney Pollack directed the movie Tootsie, which starred the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Geena Davis, and Bill Murray, among many others. Telling the story of an actor with a reputation for being difficult who adopts a female personality so he can find work, Tootsie was nominated for 10 Oscars and was one of the most profitable movies of that year. More than 35 years later, Yazbek added a few tweaks to the original story so he could bring Tootsie to Broadway.

Bundle of Laughs

On the surface, Tootsie being remade as a musical in this day in age feels like it would be a commentary on gender identity given the source material of the play. However, it’s far from anything that needs to be taken too seriously. Critics and audiences alike have been delighted by its humor with some calling it laugh-out-loud funny. It’s a throwback to the old days when the top priority was giving audience members the time of their lives. There’s no place Tootsie won’t go to get a laugh, making it one of the funniest musicals to come around in a long time. Now more than ever, we could all use a good laugh, and seeing Tootsie in person is the perfect antidote for anybody who needs to relax and smile.