Michael Dorsey is a skilled actor with a talent for not keeping a job. His volatile, stubborn nature gives him a reputation for being a difficult actor and a director’s worst nightmare. After a string of failed auditions, Michael is turning forty and desperate. He is further riled when his best friend and roommate, Jeff, reminds him of the ambitious ‘To-Do List’ he made to accomplish before he turned forty. Michael has a bright idea and decides to make one last-ditch effort at achieving theatrical success. Dressed in drag, he attends his next audition as actress Dorothy Michaels. Sure enough, Dorothy is cast as the lead in the new, Broadway-bound musical, Juliet’s Nurse, and Michael/Dorothy experiences a meteoric rise to stardom. Promising that “I Won’t Let You Down”, Dorothy soon has audiences falling at her feet. Looking at the world through Dorothy’s eyes, Michael has a life-changing epiphany: “Women listen to each other.” He becomes close friends with his co-star Julie and it isn’t long before Michael (disguised as Dorothy) starts to fall for her. Can Michael sustain his greatest acting challenge or will he reveal the truth and be true to himself? Adapted from the 1982, Tootsie is a hilarious crowd-pleaser that enjoys poking fun at Broadway musical theatre.
Tootsie guide sections
