‘Tootsie’ Musical Sets Its Sights on a Broadway Opening

Tootsie is getting ready to sing.

A musical adaptation of the 1982 hit film will come to Broadway next year, after a production this fall in Chicago, the producers said Wednesday.

The title character is a difficult actor who is having trouble finding work until he dresses as a woman and auditions for a soap opera. In the musical comedy, the role originated by Dustin Hoffman in the movie will go to Santino Fontana (a Tony nominee for “Cinderella,” better known for his television role on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”).

David Yazbek, the composer who wrote the song’s for this season’s best-reviewed new musical, “The Band’s Visit,” has signed on to write the score. The book is by Robert Horn (“Thirteen”) and the eight-time Tony nominee Scott Ellis (“She Loves Me”) will direct.

The pre-Broadway production will run at Chicago’s Cadillac Theater from Sept. 11-Oct. 14, and is then scheduled to come to Broadway in the spring of 2019. The production did not announce a specific theater on Broadway.

The musical will be produced by Scott Sanders, who last produced the Tony-winning revival of “The Color Purple.”