Two musicians accidentally witness a mob murder and decide to make themselves scarce. It’s 1929, Prohibition is still the law of the land, and Joe and Jerry come up with a plan to get out of town by dressing themselves as women and joining an all-female band.
It’s the classic Some Like It Hot, delivered as a Tony Award-winning touring musical with a stop in Houston courtesy of Broadway at the Hobby. The story (although not an exact copy of the 1959 Billy Wilder film with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon) takes the pair aboard a train heading for San Diego where romantic entanglements ensue.
Enter eccentric millionaire Osgood Fielding III played by Edward Juvier. Osgood, several times divorced but still searching for love, falls for Jerry in his character of Daphne.
“I just loved it so much when I saw it on Broadway. Very rarely do I see a show and I think to myself “Oh God that’s kind of perfect and I would love to be in that.’ I was in such admiration of the original company and I’ve always loved the old film that it’s based on.”
The musical book has modernized aspects of the old movie, he said, “Which gives it life and allows a new audience to explore this genius that is the old film. I just love what they’ve done with the updates.”
As for the music, Juvier says: “Oh Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, they are the best. They wrote Hairspray and Marc has written a million scores for film that we all know and love. Every single one [of these songs] is a banger.” The book is by Matthew Lopez(The Inheritance) and Amber Ruffin (“The Amber Ruffin Show”), with direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon).
His favorite song he gets to sing in the show is “Fly Mariposa Fly,” which he sings to Daphne.
Juvier was born in Houston and credits the arts scene her with his early exposure to theater. He attended Stratford High School in Spring Branch ISD and credits his acting teacher there with “pointing me in the right direction and showing me the ropes.” While growing up he attended shows at Alley Theatre and Jones Hall , before going on to Boston Conservatory.
“I was cast in the national tour of Les Miz even before I graduated from college,” he says.
He describes his character Osgood in Some Like It Hot: “He just lives in authenticity and simplicity. He doesn’t have very many worries in the world because he’s got a lot of money during the Depression. He’s one of the few people that doesn’t have the weight of the world hanging on him. He can see people for what they are and accept people for what they are.”
Again, the musical does depart from the movie in certain aspects.
“It is still set in the Depression era but it’s told with a modern eye. I’m not dissing the old film but there’s a lot of misogyny, there’s a lot of jokes about men in dresses that just don’t fly today. They’ve taken that antiquated script and made it more acceptable for today’s audience. In some ways it helps enhance the story,” Juvier says.
“You’ll probably see new things and you might miss other things. What people leave with our show more than anything is joy. Joy and love and acceptance.And living authentically.”
Performances are scheduled for March 24-29 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday at the Hobby Center, 800 Bagby. For more information, call 713-315-7625 or visit thehobbycenter.org or broadwayatthehobbycenter.com. $55-$131.