Are you lookin’ for a friendly door to knock and come on in? Well, the name’s Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre— and it’s there for you— so that the good times can begin! You ready to be good? Bad? All of the above? Now’s the time! Broadway’s Tony Award-winning smash, Some Like It Hot is swinging on into Charm City for a one-week engagement and you won’t want to miss this splashy classic! It’s a hoot! It’s a holler! And it’s a good ol’ fashioned feel good show that has razzle-dazzle choreography and a whole lot of shimmy-shaking all throughout the cast! Directed & Choreographed by the incomparably talented Casey Nicholaw, this sensational show is zippy, punchy, and really glides with a smoothness fresher and slicker than a glass of Prohibition-era giggle juice!

Where one even begins to find the words for such a sensational production is anybody’s guess. Maybe we’ll just pull a Sweet Sue and start scatting all over the place, zee-bap and take it up a step! From the remarkably talented company performing to the extraordinarily crafted design components, to the sensationally flashy choreography, this show has it all. If there were ever a doubt that the golden era of musical theatre couldn’t be made to fit the modern day musical-theatre expectation, Some Like It Hot clears those notions clean away with all of its pizzazz, panache, and overall perfect structure. It’s an exceptionally smart and nuanced book (Matthew Lopez & Amber Ruffin based on the MGM Motion picture Some Like It Hot) with incredibly smart and clever lyrics (Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman) lush, luxurious golden-era-swing-style music (also Marc Shaiman) and a whole helluva lot of talent in all the right places. It’s a season-smashing, must-see!

If you don’t know the show (or the movie from the 50’s) but you are up to speed on some of your more modern musical theatre adaptations, things like Sister Act and White Christmas might have some familiar throughlines here. Two song-and-dance fellas find themselves in trouble… for reasons…and they end up hiding out… in a place where they otherwise definitely do not belong…and love quadrangles, chaos and shenanigans ensues. All set against the luscious and glorious backdrop of prohibition circa 1933 in Chicago and San Diego. And it’s everything you could hope for in a musical theatre experience. There’s dancing— so much splashy, flashy, exquisite dancing— and songs of every variety— love stories, gangsters, guns, farce-doors, you name it— there’s even fling-kicking bellhops and a hot night in Mexico! Plus a story that’s bonafide ahead of its time and truly embracing of all the things that the world should be for.

Scott Pask has outdone himself as the show’s Scenic Designer. Working in tandem with Lighting Designer Natasha Katz, these opulent scenes display the best of the 1930’s despite the depression, showcasing decadence amid strife. The trellis-rose bridge for the scene in Mexico complete with the colorful drop lanterns are mesmerically entrancing and set the mood for all of the wild, good times happening in that scene. The drop lanterns for each of the club scenes, lit in moody pops of turquoise or purple are exceptional features that really augment the atmosphere during these moments. Pask and Katz are a dynamic duo, with fluid-moving scenery that creates slick transitions— particularly the iconic ‘Hollywood dance scene’ where the yacht is whisked away to a stage full of starlit sky before being dropped back ito place— all in that glowing, gooey vein of theatrical magic. Their work is par for the course with this robust and dazzling show.

And if the scenery and lighting don’t dazzle you (but trust me, they will) the Costumes will knock over with a feather. Costume Designer Gregg Barnes (aided by Hair Designer Josh Marquette and Makeup Designer Milagros Medin-Cerdeira) pulls out all the stops. From the swing-savvy dresses in the opening number to the sparkles and shimmers each grandiose step of the way once the troupe hits California, Barnes has the show’s aesthetic well in hand. Those star-gowns— which literally look like a swiveling rain of shooting stars cascading down the dancers’ bodies during “Dance the World Away”, and are complimented by gossamer, shimmering threads stitched into the black dancing tuxedoes of the male dancers in that routine— are to die for and beyond glamorous. The fire-blaze red dress featured on Daphne in Mexico and the grape-velvet number seen on Sweet Sue at the near the end of the performance are as breathtaking as the performers wearing them. There are so many extraordinary sartorial selections on display in this production, Barnes has truly outdone himself.

There’s a reason Casey Nicholaw’s choreography won the Tony for this show and mere words can’t begin to do it justice. The dancing will bowl you over full-stop. And it’s more than just wild, ‘of-the-times’ swing-scat-jazz routines with partnered flipping, sling-dipping, and kicks. “Tip Tap Trouble”, the show’s penultimate number, is a solid ten minute block of some of Broadway’s most impressive blockyography with dance. It’s a proper keystone-cops, run-round-farce chase, with doors, jumps, gunshots, tapping, and a whole lot of exquisitely and meticulously choreographed movement, all working to set up the big finale and it’s more than just the bees’ knees, it’s aces and fire and all that jazz! The Latin-inspired flamenco-tango-salsa moves during “Let’s Be Bad” are equally as fiery; there’s so many amazing routines— high-march-stepping bellhops to lift-twirls and leap-swings, you name it, Nicholaw’s choreography has got it.

When it comes to ensembles, the Some Like It Hot team is roaring with gusto and bursting with talent. The Gangsters/Porters/Bellhops/et al (Drew Franklin, Devin Holloway, Stephen Michael Langton, Jay Owens, Michael Skrzek, Tommy Sutter) are perpetually in motion and make for wildly entertaining partners to nearly every dance routine. And the Society Syncopators (Ashley Marie Arnold, Kelly Berman, Darien Crago, Emily Kelly, Brianna Kim, Ranease Ryann, Nissi Shalome) are swankier than even the Hotel del Coronado! Shalome, Arnold, and Kelly, as Dolores, Ginger, and Vivian respectively, get to pipe up with some zippy one-liners and sing along for some of the numbers featuring their robust and hearty voices, which really add zest and spice to numbers like “Let’s Be Bad” and “I’m California Bound.”

Adding comedic gold to the show in her role of Minnie, Band Manager, Devon Hadsell delivers zinging one-liners that leave the audience in stitches, particularly whenever she’s bailing out Sweet Sue. Hadsell has an extraordinary voice, which is featured all throughout the numbers whenever the Society Syncopators are on stage and what’s more— Hadsell plays the drums (live in person) on stage during the moments when the ‘all-girl-band’ is performing in the various hotels and clubs! Giving the opposite of lighthearted humor, you get Jamie Laverdiere in the roll of Mulligan— G-man on the ground, in hot pursuit of Spats Columbo (Devon Goffman.) And while Laverdiere’s Mulligan is seen few and far between, when he’s mouthing off with Goffman’s Spats, it’s wild and certainly brings the heat and his surprise appearance in that penultimate chase-scene wins him thunderous applause. Goffman, as the ne’er-do-well gangster extraordinaire wins the audience well-deserved distaste for all the trouble he causes (he’s done his job well as the audience is fully against his hot pursuit of our two protagonist-chaos-heroes) and his rough-n-tumble 1930’s gangster Chicago vocal patois and affectation are spot on.

Stealing the show with his flighty, flitty, fleet-footed antics is Edward Juvier in the role of Osgood. Almost too adorable to be believed, Juvier slips into the show somewhere late in the first act and chews scenery before becoming a true part of the narrative. But Juvier is more than just humorous and adorkable; there’s a striking and gorgeous voice waiting to burst out of him, which gets saved for the second act number “Fly, Mariposa, Fly” and you get this incredibly sweet but heartfelt sound that just serenades and simultaneously soothes the soul. His over-the-top interactions with Daphne mellow into sincerity and that’s just the dreamy happily-ever-after style notion this fantastic fantasy piece truly needs. And did I mention he can dance? Watch him skip-foot all around the stage— particularly for his little solo rocket bit during “Tip Tap Trouble.”

If you want to set the tone for the evening there’s no better way to do it than with Sweet Sue (Tarra Conner Jones) who bursts onto the scene right from jump-street with her bad-ass belting powerhouse vocals, command of stage presence, and all-round ferocity that could scare Al Capone straight. Jones is FIERCE. And the facial expressions that she pulls throughout the evening will have you busting a gut with laughter, whether she’s staring down her girls or making faces of utter disbelief when lines are thrown her way. With attitude longer than the trans-continental railroad, Jones is bursting at the seams with vigor whether she’s singing, screaming, or scatting. “What Are You Thirsty For?” blasts the audience into orbit and it does leave you wondering how Jones and the ensemble could build anywhere after that extreme of a start but she and her group do not disappoint. “Zee Bap” and “Baby, Let’s Get Good” have all the vocal prowess of wildfire infernos and Jones finds a way to balance the comedy in and out of those moments all while blowing the roof off the joint whenever she sings.

With a more reserved approach to attitude that befits the character, Leandra Ellis-Gaston brings the character of Sugar to life in a way that everyone quickly falls in love with. Ellis-Gaston’s vocal versatility is sublime; she’s got that trans-Atlantic accent and patois down pat, sliding it easily into her singing voice, which goes from nasally and sharp to wholly robust and beltress all over the course of the show. And she dances! A true triple threat! Ellis-Gaston paints a masterpiece with her vocal caress, singing imagery all through “A the Old Majestic Nickel Matinee” and you feel each emotion in flicking glimmers of black and white just like you were watching her memories play out in live time. “Ride Out the Storm” is the anti-torch-midnight-number which she just soars through with vocal perfection. And her chemistry with Joe/Josephine/Kip is divine; trusting but cautious, instant but slow-growing, it’s the perfect balance of how a leading-lady character should interact with her male-counterpart, especially when he’s three-facing the whole show in a trio of different personas.

The tip-tap twins, the wild-wonders, the dynamic-duo, whatever you want to call them— Joe & Jerry or Josephine and Daphne (Matt Loehr and Tavis Kordell, respectively) will steal your hearts as they jump aboard this madcap chaos of a musical-theatre marvel! Right from “You Can’t Have Me (If You Don’t Have Him)” you get the bonded sense of Loehr and Kordell’s camaraderie and their kinship in spirit if not in personality. Both have glorious voices that are the perfect representation of the golden era of jazzy syncopated musical-theatre-Hollywood productions. You never catch even a hint of modernity in their speaking or their singing and yet they both sound timeless, particularly when Loehr’s character is bemoaning the fact that everyone thinks his Josephine persona is quite old! Loehr and Kordell gel like Velcro— a little prickly with one another at times but ultimately fast-sticking when it comes to supporting each other. And the way they tap— holy wowza it’s bombastic and enthusiastic and clean; just a true spectacle waiting to be seen!

Loehr has the comedy of his character down-pat, refined in such a way that keeps the audience giggling at every turn. Balanced against his bold tenor sound, you get this sensational experience watching him weasel his way out of situation after situation. “Dance the World Away”, the duet he shares with Sugar, is a glorious moment where you get to hear his put-upon German accent slink into his singing voice, without compromising tone or quality, but it’s “He Lied When He Said Hello” that will really take your breath away because you get to watch Loehr struggle internally and externally with the maelstrom of consequences that his actions have created. Remarkable on his feet, whether charming as Kip, endearing as Josephine, or schmoozing as Joe, Loehr is a knockout in the role.

Kordell is serving up ferocity to slay with for days and days. There are innumerable moments where you simply fall in love with Kordell’s portrayal of Daphne and Jerry; particularly in that moment at the end of “Fly, Mariposa, Fly” before they pull out all the stops and bring the house down with thunderous applause with “You Coulda Knocked Me Over With a Feather.” Kordell just radiates in the role, truly shining with a keen understanding of how to command their stage presence, how to effervesce with fluidity and ease all whilst staying in the period and era of the show, and delivering knockout vocals— those higher tenor, bordering on falsetto sounds— simply divine. It’s a real treat to watch Kordell perform in this role, one that you won’t want to miss.

There’s something on the menu for everyone with this production— and Some Like It Hot is serving it up all week long here in Charm City. You won’t want to miss out on this sensational show, it’s a miracle and theatrical masterpiece just waiting to be enjoyed!

Some Like It Hot plays May 6^th through May 11^th 2025 on the Main Stage of The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center— 12 N. Eutaw Street in Baltimore’s Bromo Arts District. Tickets are available by calling the box office at 410-837-7400 or purchasing them in advance online.

To read the interview with Devon Hadsell on playing Minnie, click here.