The Tony Award®-winning Comedy Musical TOOTSIE is Coming to State Theatre New Jersey!

The fully renovated State Theatre New Jersey kicks off its 2022-23 Broadway season with the hilarious, laugh-out-loud, Tony Award®-winning comedy musical, Tootsie for only four performances from November 4-6. You won’t want to miss this! 

This love letter to the theater tells the story of Michael Dorsey, a talented but difficult actor who struggles to find work until one show-stopping act of desperation lands him the role of a lifetime. Featuring a hilarious Tony®-winning book by Robert Horn and an outrageously clever score by 2018 Tony®-winner David Yazbek (The Band’s Visit, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), this New York Times Critic’s Pick is “a joyful delight” (The Washington Post) that’s “so packed with punchlines, it should be called a jokebox musical!” (Bloomberg). 

Tootsie is based on the story by Don McGuire and Larry Gelbart and the Columbia Pictures Motion Picture produced by Punch Productions and starring Dustin Hoffman. Tootsie’s Tony Award®-winning Book Writer Robert Horn talks about how the idea of adapting the film for the stage come about: “The idea came from our prolific and wonderful producer, Scott Sanders, who had the rights to the movie. He had seen a workshop I had done for another musical, and when the legendary Larry Gelbart, who wrote the film and was adapting the musical, passed away, Scott went on a desperate search to find someone to fill Larry’s comedic shoes. Somehow his GPS pointed towards me, and I am forever grateful.”

Horn goes on to say “When he approached me about it, I got very nervous. I mean, it’s an iconic movie and comic masterpiece, but it also has content and plot points that I knew did not age well. I was terrified to take it on at first and passed on the offer. But then I sat down with the composer, David Yazbek, and we talked out all the ways we could make it our own, update it, go back to just the DNA of the story, and rebuild it out from there. Use humor to tell the story in a theatrical and modern way.”

Actress and New Jersey native Ashley Alexandra who plays Julie Nichols in Tootsie, is excited to be bringing the national Broadway tour to her home state. In a recent interview she shared: “my favorite part of the show is the opening of Act II in a song featuring Jeff, the best friend character, who throughout the show is the voice of reason for everyone. He finally tells Michael Dorsey how it is and what has been going on in his own words and basically the audience's words as well and it’s just a really, really, funny moment.”

Don’t miss the comedy musical Tootsie at State Theatre New Jersey from November 4-6.  Also, be sure to check out the rest of State Theatre’s exciting Broadway season featuring STOMP, My Fair Lady, Linda Eder, Menopause the Musical, R.E.S.P.E.C.T, Patti LuPone, Legally Blonde the Musical, and Jesus Christ Superstar. Tickets are available at STNJ.org or 732-246-SHOW(7469).