There aren't many beloved comedy movies left to be turned into musicals (Mrs Doubtfire and The Devil Wears Prada are being written as we speak) and not all screen-to-stage adaptations are created equal. But by all accounts the musical version of Tootsie, the 1982 Dustin Hoffman-led movie about a struggling male actor who decides to drag up to go for female roles and advance his career, is a winner.
The musical opened on Broadway last month to uniformly strong reviews and 11 Tony nominations, and the producers have just announced a US tour, a West End production for 2021, a Japanese production and, most importantly, an Australian production. What do we know about the Australian version? Not much just yet: there aren't any dates announced, but we do know it's being brought here by the original Broadway producers along with Australian ex-pat producer Benjamin Lowy.
The show itself is apparently wildly funny and smart, and our friends at Time Out New York said it has "the funniest book of a Broadway musical since The Book of Mormon." It's more or less the story you know, but the action has been moved forward to modern day, and instead of finding a role on a soap opera, lead character Michael Dorsey drags up to land a role in a Broadway show.
Our theatres are looking pretty full over the next two years, so it could still be a while before Tootsie lands in Australia. But with producers officially lined up, it's only a matter of time.