{"id":952,"date":"2016-08-08T21:06:24","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T21:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mgs.performerstuff.com\/?p=952"},"modified":"2018-08-07T02:50:14","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T02:50:14","slug":"theatre-in-film-series-tootsie-1982","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-series-tootsie-1982\/","title":{"rendered":"Theatre in Film Series: Tootsie (1982)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-header-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><h3>Theatre in Film Series: <em>Tootsie<\/em> (1982)<\/h3>\n<font size=\"2\" color=\"grey\"><span style=\"border:1px solid ;-webkit-border-radius:50%;-moz-border-radius:50%;border-radius:50%;-moz-box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);-webkit-box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);margin-right:25px;float:left;\" class=\"fusion-imageframe imageframe-glow imageframe-1 hover-type-none author-image\"><a class=\"fusion-no-lightbox\" href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\" target=\"_self\"> <img src=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/authorimage.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-responsive\" style=\"-webkit-border-radius:50%;-moz-border-radius:50%;border-radius:50%;\"\/><\/a><\/span><p>Written by Ashleigh Gardner<\/p>\n<p>August 8, 2016<\/p>\n<\/font><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-body-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><p>Have a love affair with theatre\u00a0<em>and\u00a0<\/em>film? Me too! It&#8217;s an ongoing relationship that&#8217;s a thrill to have, and Performer Stuff&#8217;s\u00a0Theatre in Film series celebrates the\u00a0great films that effectively depict a life in the theatre.<em>\u00a0<\/em>Part III\u00a0in our ongoing\u00a0tribute to theatre-centric cinema continues\u00a0with the 1982 knockout hit (featuring a cross-dressing Dustin Hoffman), <em>Tootsie<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Tootsie\u00a0<\/em>(1982)<\/h4>\n<br><div align=\"center\"><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FlXE1Yq0AnQ?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div><br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><b>Director:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0Sydney Pollack<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Starring:\u00a0<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Bill Murray, Charles Durning, and Geena Davis<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">What happens:<\/h4>\n<br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No one will work with actor Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman). His perfectionist demands on film and theatre sets make him impossible to direct, and he\u2019s been blacklisted in the acting community. When he hears that his friend Sandy Lester (Teri Garr) has auditioned for a role as a female administrator on a soap opera but did not get the role, Michael decides to throw caution to the wind. In order to raise $8,000 to produce a play written by his friend friend Jeff (Bill Murray), Michael dresses up as a woman &#8212; Dorothy Michaels, attends the audition, gets the role, and becomes a television sensation as Emily, the feisty, feminist hospital administrator. To complicate matters, Michael is attracted to his co-star, Julie Nichols (Jessica Lange), who only knows him as Dorothy. Additionally, two men have made advances toward Michael-as-Dorothy: older cast member John Van Horn (George Gaynes) Julie\u2019s widowed father Les (Charles Durning). Realizing he has no way of escape, Michael improvises a monologue during a live broadcast of the soap opera, revealing to the entire cast and crew and television audiences that he is Dorothy\/Emily\u2019s twin brother who has come to avenge her. Though his relationships with everyone from Emily and Les to Jeff and Sandy are on edge, he manages to apologize and repair friendships in light of his gigantic deception.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">Why it matters:<\/h4>\n<br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tootsie <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mainly deals with television work, many topics addressed in the film carry over into the world of theatre: blacklisted actors, failed auditions, lack of funds, and playing characters far removed from the visions we have of ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Michael Dorsey limits himself by refusing to honor requests and demands of directors, both in Hollywood and in New York. He tarnishes his reputation nation-wide, and can\u2019t find work because he\u2019s been blacklisted. This is a common problem for actors who are difficult to work with: they\u2019re late, they\u2019re disrespectful of cast and crew, or they drop roles without notice. Michael\u2019s failure to perform professionally are part and parcel of his failed auditions, too. In a montage, his headshot is repeatedly passed from person to person, thrown away, or ripped in half, a series of images indicative of an actor who is either not right for the role or, frankly, not right for the business<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Michael\u2019s lack of funds is normal for every actor, even the experienced ones. Additionally, Michael&#8217;s portrayal of Dorothy Michaels resonates with actors whose roles don\u2019t necessarily align with who they are as people. Michael is a crass, demanding, and womanizing young man; Dorothy, on the other hand, is a nurturing, protective, and proper older woman. His drastic switch reflects his talents as an actor, though he\u2019s been looked over for many opportunities because of his atrocious attitude.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Michael-as-Dorothy is, in a sense, live theatre for everyone around Dorothy. Michael\u2019s nearly non-stop public drag performance forces him to create a history and persona for a fictional person and live it out as if it were truth, something that is demanded on a daily basis for theatre actors onstage. Michael, desperate for work, must use his method acting technique &#8212; a technique that has gotten him in trouble in the past &#8212; to land a role. What has been his primary obstacle in the past is now his absolute strength, despite his inflated lie nearly costing him credibility and relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Below is the scene in which Michael Dorsey playing Dorothy Michaels\u00a0<em>playing\u00a0<\/em>Emily Kimberly (on the soap opera) reveals that he is a man.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/smTXkhM6v-Y?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><br><br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This film is the first featured in Part III of \u201cTheatre in Film\u201d. See below for the others in Part III.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-series-all-that-jazz-1979\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>All That Jazz\u00a0<\/em>(1979)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-the-dresser-1983\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>The Dresser<\/em>\u00a0(1983)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-to-be-or-not-to-be-1983\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><em>To Be Or Not To Be<\/em> (1983)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>A Chorus Line<\/em>\u00a0(1985)<\/strong>\u00a0<em>(Coming soon.)<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Want to start with Part I? Check out\u00a0<strong><em><a href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=133\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">42nd Street\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">(1933)<\/span><\/strong>. Didn&#8217;t get to read Part II?\u00a0Begin with\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-series-the-band-wagon-1953\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The <strong>Band Wagon\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/em><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">(1953)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><hr \/>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><em><strong>Ashleigh Gardner<\/strong>\u00a0received her AA in Theatre\/Drama\/Dramatic Arts\u00a0from Valencia College and\u00a0her Bachelors Degree in English Literature and\u00a0Masters Degree in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies from\u00a0the University of Central Florida. She is a playwright, an actor, and PerformerStuff.com\u2019s Editor.\u00a0<\/em><\/h5>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\">Thumbnail image from\u00a0<em>Tootsie<\/em>. Photo copyright \u00a9 Columbia Pictures 1982.<\/h5>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [...]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[259,265],"tags":[6,106,352,165,139,380,319,107,82,80,14,105],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}