Everything you need to know about 'Some Like It Hot' on Broadway

Learn about one of the hottest musical comedies in New York, which retains the classic glamour and fun of the film while giving the story a fresh twist.

Broadway is turning up the heat! Some Like It Hot, one of the most beloved comedy films in history, is now a hit Broadway musical that will quench anyone's thirst for old-fashioned theatrical spectacle. An award-winning creative team — including comedian Amber Ruffin, the Tony-winning director of The Book of Mormon, and the songwriters of Hairspray — have brought the 1959 movie to fresh, colorful life.

Like the movie, the Some Like It Hot Broadway show sees musicians Joe and Jerry seek romance — and themselves — while on the run from a mobster in disguise. Fans of the film will see all their favorite moments on stage, but the musical updates the story with a modern understanding of gender identity, celebrating everyone's right to live out their truest self.

Learn more about the Some Like It Hot musical below, including production and venue information and fun facts about the show and movie. Tickets are on sale now — get 'em while they're hot!

What is Some Like It Hot about?

The Some Like It Hot musical takes place in the 1930s (a change from the 1920s-set movie), just before the end of Prohibition. Musicians Joe and Jerry work at a mob-controlled speakeasy, and they see mob boss Spats kill an informant.

Spats resolves to kill them for being witnesses, forcing Joe and Jerry to go on the run. They hear of openings in an all-female traveling swing band and disguise themselves as women to join them. In a departure from the movie, only Joe falls for the band's lead singer, Sugar — though his disguise as Josephine gets in the way. Jerry, meanwhile, finds that his cover, Daphne, is more than a disguise. Daphne allows Jerry to discover and live out his truest, fullest self.

Where is Some Like It Hot playing?

Some Like It Hot is at the Shubert Theatre. The venue is named for Sam S. Shubert, one of the three brothers who founded the Shubert Organization that now owns and operates 17 Broadway theatres. Recent hit shows at the Shubert Theatre include the Bette Midler-led Hello, Dolly! revival, To Kill a Mockingbird, Matilda the Musical, and POTUS.

How long is Some Like It Hot?

Some Like It Hot on Broadway runs approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, including an intermission. This is an average Broadway musical length; they typically run between 2 and 3 hours.

What days is Some Like It Hot playing?

Some Like It Hot plays eight performances a week Tuesday through Sunday, with no performances on Mondays. There are matinee and evening performances on Wednesday and Saturday, and only a matinee on Sunday. For the most up-to-date weekly performance schedule, visit the Some Like It Hot page.

When did Some Like It Hot premiere?

The Some Like It Hot film premiered in 1959, and it has since gone down in history as one of the most beloved comedy films of all time. The film remains one of Marilyn Monroe's most famous credits as an actress and Billy Wilder's as a director.

The Some Like It Hot musical premiered directly on Broadway in fall 2022.

Who wrote Some Like It Hot?

The songs for Some Like It Hot are by composer-lyricist duo Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. They're known for their catchy, period-specific scores for musicals like Hairspray and Catch Me If You Can (both set in the '60s) and TV shows like Smash.

Adapting Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond's Some Like It Hot screenplay for the stage are Amber Ruffin and Matthew López. Ruffin is a comedian known for hosting an eponymous late-night talk show, and López wrote the 2020 Tony Award-winning Best Play The Inheritance.

Some Like It Hot characters

All the characters you know and love from the Some Like It Hot movie are also in the musical, now with a fresh update. Here are the major characters in Some Like It Hot.

• Joe/Josephine: A nightclub saxophone player alongside Jerry. He disguises himself twice during Some Like It Hot: as Josephine, to blend in with Sweet Sue's band, and as a rich Hollywood film producer, to woo Sugar. Tony Curtis played the role in the film, and Christian Borle plays him on Broadway.
• Jerry/Daphne: A nightclub bass player alongside Joe. In the musical, being Daphne makes Jerry feel more comfortable in his identity than ever, which turns out not to be entirely masculine. Jack Lemmon played Jerry in the film.
• Sugar Kane: The lead singer of Sweet Sue's traveling band. Marilyn Monroe played the role in the film, but in the musical, Sugar is a Black woman who grew up in segregation and is now trying to build a successful performance career.
• Sweet Sue: The leader of Sweet Sue and her Society Syncopators, the swing band Joe and Jerry stow away with. She runs a tight ship but is caring and motherly toward all her girls.
• Osgood Fielding III: A kind-hearted millionaire who falls for Daphne at first sight. They bond over both feeling like outsiders in society.
• Spats Colombo: A mob boss who runs the Chicago club Joe and Jerry perform in. Spats chases Joe and Jerry across the country because they saw him kill someone.
• Detective Mulligan: A Chicago detective trying to find and arrest Spats.

Some Like It Hot songs

The Some Like It Hot movie included a few songs, but it wasn't a full-out musical, and those songs aren't in the musical adaptation. The Some Like It Hot Broadway songs are from the composers of upbeat period musicals like Hairspray and Catch Me If You Can. This time, Shaiman and Wittman take inspiration from the 1930s with jazzy big-band tunes. Here are all the songs in Some Like It Hot.

Act 1

• "What Are You Thirsty For?" - Sue and Ensemble
• "You Can't Have Me (If You Don't Have Him)" - Joe and Jerry
• "Vamp!" - Joe & Jerry
• "I'm California Bound" - Sue, Joe, Jerry, Sugar and Ensemble
• "A Darker Shade of Blue" - Sugar
• "Take It Up A Step" - Sugar, Josephine, Daphne, and Ensemble
• "Zee Bap" - Sue, Daphne, and Ensemble
• "At the Old Majestic Nickel Matinee" - Sugar
• "Poor Little Millionaire" - Osgood and Ensemble
• "Some Like It Hot" - Sue, Sugar, Daphne and Ensemble

Act 2

• "Let's Be Bad" - Osgood, Daphne, and Ensemble
• "Let's Dance the World Away" - Joe, Sugar, and Ensemble
• "Fly, Mariposa, Fly" - Osgood and Ensemble
• "You Could've Knocked Me Over With a Feather" - Daphne
• "He Lied When He Said Hello" - Joe and Ensemble
• "Ride Out the Storm" - Sugar
• "Tip Tap Trouble" - Company
• "Baby, Let's Get Good" - Company

What awards has Some Like It Hot won?

The Some Like It Hot musical has not won any awards yet; it will be eligible at the 2023 Tony Awards in June, and nominations will be announced in May. The show has, however, earned critical acclaim; a four-star New York Theatre Guide review calls Some Like It Hot "a bracing, fizzy cocktail garnished with a winning cast."

The 1959 film received six Oscar nominations including Best Director (Billy Wilder) and Best Adapted Screenplay, and it won for Best Costume Design. The movie was also one of the first 25 films to be preserved in the Library of Congress's National Film Registry.

Celebrities who have starred in Some Like It Hot

Some Like It Hot has a history of attracting the hottest stars of stage and screen. Learn more about the celebrities who have starred in Some Like It Hot.

• Christian Borle: Borle stars as Joe/Josephine in Some Like It Hot on Broadway. He's a Tony Award winner for playing William Shakespeare in Something Rotten!, and he's also known for starring roles in Little Shop of Horrors, Legally Blonde, Falsettos, and the musical TV series Smash.
• Marilyn Monroe: Monroe played Sugar Kane in the original Some Like It Hot film. She is one of the most legendary screen actresses of all time, and her most famous credits also include The Seven Year Itch and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
• Tony Curtis: Curtis played Joe/Josephine in the Some Like It Hot film. He was an Oscar nominee for The Defiant Ones and appeared in more than 100 movies and TV shows.
• Jack Lemmon: Lemmon played Jerry/Daphne in the Some Like It Hot movie. He was a two-time Oscar and Emmy winner and two-time Tony nominee. His theatre credits include Tribute and Long Day's Journey into Night, as well as the film adaptation of Neil Simon's play The Odd Couple.

Screen adaptations of Some Like It Hot

The Some Like It Hot musical hasn't received a film adaptation; rather, it's the other way around. The 1959 Billy Wilder film starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe is the source material for Some Like It Hot on Broadway.

Some other shows, like Mean Girls and Hairspray, began as movies and got musical adaptations, which then became the basis for movie musical remakes. Maybe Some Like It Hot will follow the same path someday!

Major productions of Some Like It Hot

Some Like It Hot premiered directly on Broadway, so the current production is the musical's only one thus far. Lots of Broadway shows go on to national tours and international productions, though, so like Sweet Sue's band, the show could travel far.

Fun facts about Some Like It Hot

Thirsty for more? Learn additional fun facts about Some Like It Hot below.

• Shaiman and Wittman repurposed one of the songs they wrote for the TV show Smash, "Let's Be Bad," as Some Like It Hot's Act 2 opener.
• A life-size train car comes on stage during the show's first act.
• Some Like It Hot is the second musical to be adapted from the same-named movie. The first was Sugar, which premiered on Broadway in 1972 and ran for more than a year.
• Some Like It Hot is directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, a Tony Award winner who helmed other musical comedies like The Book of Mormon.
• Shaiman and Wittman's songs are inspired by the music of artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, and Billie Holiday.
• The Some Like It Hot movie was instrumental in abolishing the Hays Code, a set of self-censorship rules for films. The movie was successful despite its inclusion of LGBT themes such as drag, which went against the code.

How to get Some Like It Hot tickets

An award-winning creative team, superb cast, and old-fashioned, mega-musical spectacle make Some Like It Hot one of Broadway's hottest tickets. See the acclaimed Broadway musical now.

Photo credit: The cast of Some Like It Hot on Broadway. (Photos by Marc J. Franklin)