TOOTSIE at Kweskin Theatre

Most people know that a career in show biz is difficult – so difficult that some actors often go to extremes to get a job, but none more so than Michael Dorsey in the new musical hit, Tootsie, playing in The Kweskin Theatre, Stamford, September 13 through October 5.

Curtain Call, in residence at The Sterling Farms Theatre Complex, kicks off its 34th season of 12 full-scale productions with this recent Tony Award winning musical based on the 1982 hit film of the same name. “When I saw Tootsie on Broadway, I hadn’t laughed so hard at a show in a long time,” said Curtain Call executive director, Lou Ursone. “It came as no surprise to me when the Tony Awards came around, that Tootsie won one of its Tony’s for BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL,” Ursone added.

Based on the hit comedy film starring Dustin Hoffman and ranked as one of the best comedies of all-time on American Film Institute's list of "100 Years...100 Laughs," Tootsie had audiences rolling in the aisles in what was hailed as "Broadway's funniest new musical!" (The New York Post). With music and lyrics by Tony Award-winner David Yazbek (The Band's Visit, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and a laugh-out-loud book by Tony Award-winner Robert Horn (13 the Musical, Shucked), Tootsie received a staggering 11 Tony Award Nominations, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.    

In Tootsie we see Michael Dorsey - a skilled actor with a talent for not keeping a job. Desperate and out-of-work, Michael makes a last-ditch effort at making his dreams come true...by disguising himself as actress Dorothy Michaels. In a meteoric rise to Broadway stardom, Michael (disguised as Dorothy) soon has audiences enamored while falling for his co-star, Julie. It isn't long before Michael realizes that maintaining his greatest acting success is going to be much harder than he expected.

"This sassy riot is the kind of big, brash Broadway musical that gives audiences what they paid for." - Hollywood Reporter.
 

Directing Tootsie is Nancy L. Meyer, who is joined by music director, Zachary Kampler, and choreographer, Kelly Nayden. (All three are Curtain Call veterans.)  Set design is by Peter Barbieri, Jr., costume design is by Megan Latte Morello, lighting design by Andrew Patashnik and stage management by Tommy DeSalvo, Laura Castiglione and Victoria Clougher. (Patashnik is a recent college grad who started out at Curtain Call at age 5 and now returns as a working professional theatre artist!)

Starring as Michael/Dorothy is Tyler Panek. Others in the cast include: Jade Anderson, Brian Borowka, Joe Colavito, Ke Ding, Neil Flores, Marc Fontaine, Donna Fox, Jean Gray, Karen Heck, Tim Huber, Rachel Lese, Shannel Dawn Lewis, Jimmy Meisterich, Renata Montalto, Kelly Nayden, Misha Polonsky, James Ring-Howell, Rhianna Ring-Howell, Jennifer Silverman, Kathryn Tracy, Samantha Van Nostrand and Rachel Zenhausern.
 

Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30pm, and Sunday matinees at 2:00pm beginning September 13. Two Thursday evenings at 7:30 are scheduled for September 26 and October 3. Tickets are available through the box office at 203-461-6358 or online at www.curtaincallinc.com. Other shows in at Curtain Call this season include Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (opening September 19), Mulberry Street, Young Frankenstein, The Three Scrooges, Steel Magnolias, Mystic Pizza, A Few Good Men, Anything Goes, A Jukebox for the Algonquin and The Spongebob Musical.

The Kweskin Theatre is located at The Sterling Farms Theatre Complex, 1349 Newfield Avenue, Stamford, CT. Doors open one half hour before show time.

Curtain Call was voted Fairfield County's BEST LOCAL THEATRE GROUP ten years running in the Annual Readers' Poll of the Fairfield County Weekly and has received similar “BEST OF” awards from Stamford Magazine and StamfordPlus magazine for 2008 through 2018. Curtain Call received The Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2011 and the ACE Award for Excellence in Arts & Culture from the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County in 2016.

Authors

• David Yazbek
• Don McGuire
• Larry Gelbart
• Robert Horn

Tony Awards and Nominations for TOOTSIE