INTERVIEW: Adam Heller on keeping the plot moving in ‘Some Like It Hot’
Photo: Some Like It Hot’s cast includes Adam Heller as Detective Mulligan. Photo courtesy of Marc J. Franklin / Provided by Polk & Co. with permission.
Adam Heller has a unique role to play in the new Broadway musical Some Like It Hot, which is currently running at the Shubert Theatre and based on the famous comedy film starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. As the character of Detective Mulligan, he’s tasked with figuring out how to stop the bad guy, Mark Lotito’s Spats, before the gangster finds (and kills) two singers on the run: Christian Borle’s Joe/Josephine and J. Harrison Ghee’s Jerry/Daphne. Adrianna Hicks also plays the pivotal role of Sugar, while Natasha Yvette Williams portrays Sweet Sue.
What transpires over the course of the story is riotous fun and movingly profound.
The Mulligan character is key because he essentially moves the plot in a forward direction, and that means Heller is always on the chase over the musical’s two hours and 30 minutes. “We’re having a blast,” Heller said in a recent phone interview. “It’s just a lovely group of people. It’s great to see them every night and tell our little romp. It’s been a dream job.”
Heller, a stage veteran with many credits to his name, came to the project because of the musical’s director, Casey Nicholaw. He received a text from the actor-turned-director three years ago with an invitation to an informal reading of the show. Nicholaw and Heller have been friends for 25 years, a relationship that dates back to their days of acting in a workshop of Kiss of the Spider Woman.
“I met and loved him then and have continued to be tickled by him and his work,” Heller said. “So, every now and then, a call will come out of the blue, and when Casey calls, you can be fairly sure there’s a good reason and that the project will be worthwhile.”
Heller, who has appeared in Broadway’s It Shoulda Been You, Elf and A Class Act, showed up to the reading and did his best take on the Mulligan character. Everything went well, and then the project entered the usual stop-and-start development process that is frequent for new Broadway musicals.
“Each subsequent reading he asked to see me do it again, and so it’s really been fantastic to amble along on this ride with Casey because he’s such a master at what he does,” Heller said. “That’s really where it began, and it was getting together with familiar faces. Mark and I have known each other since our Victor/Victoria days and maybe even a little earlier than that because we traveled in the same circles. He’s just a gem of a person, and so to come and share a dressing room with him, it’s one of these pinch-me kind of moments.”
Along the way, Heller has also gained many new friends. As a veteran in the cast, he has been taken by the ensemble members, whom he describes as “wonderfully talented.” And that’s the Some Like It Hot journey in a nutshell for Heller: reuniting with old friends and making new ones.
As far as approaching the Mulligan role, Heller did find inspiration in the original movie, which has been considerably updated by book writers Matthew López and Amber Ruffin, and Marc Shaiman (music and lyrics) and Scott Wittman (lyrics).
“A few times I went back and looked at it and saw what the great Pat O’Brien was up to,” Heller said about the actor who portrayed Mulligan in the 1959 film. “It’s a wonderful picture. I’ve touched base with it once every 10 years, I guess, because it’s such a classic comedy, and I love Billy Wilder. … You can’t help but be wowed by the original material, and it’s incredibly admirable what this team has been able to do in terms of honoring the movie but also bringing it into the present. The movie tees it up even, so it’s not that much of a stretch I don’t think. It makes sense to where we’re at now. The movie implies that it’s going to go into areas that I think this team has ushered it into. It’s really the best of both worlds, I think.”
Heller added this about his creation of the stage version of Mulligan: “He’s straight ahead. There’s right and wrong in his mind, and his task and charter is to find the bad guys and get them into custody as soon as possible. His motive is pretty straight and narrow, and it’s that in the movie. And I feel it’s that way in the musical as well. It’s to drive the engine of the plot, to keep reminding folks that this is very much a cat-and-mouse game. I’ve got to get to these gentlemen before Spats does, so there is an always-on-the-balls-of-your-feet attitude with this character.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Some Like It Hot, featuring Adam Heller, continues at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway. Click here for more information and tickets.
