' I THINK YOU'RE PERFECT ' : MUSICAL THEATRE HONOURS

 

So it was that when Osgood, the dappy millionaire played by Joe E. Brown, learns that Daphne, his fiancee [ Jack Lemon ] is secretly a man, he responds : '' Nobody's perfect."

In 2023, a raucous new musical at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway, the line is revised. '' I think you're perfect,'' Osgood tells Daphne, previously known as Jerry.

It is invidious to compare a film of 1959 with a musical adaptation staged today. And not just any film : '' Some Like It Hot '' is one of the greatest of all time and probably the best comedy.

A stage adaptation of '' Some Like It Hot '' underscores the genius of the original.

The film draws some broad laughs from the spectacle of men wobbling on high heels. That is very 1959.

In the new musical, Jerry is liberated and exhilarated by becoming Daphne. 

'' ' The lady that I'm lovin is me,'' sings Ghee -who, offstage, is non-binary - in an ode to gender fluidity.

It is natural to think that the present always knows best. Often it does. Gender nonconformity wasn't as much of a thing in 1959; or rather, not in the same way, or with the same vocabulary.

Sometimes, though, wisdom and compassion operate in disguise.

The straight relationships are a critique dressed up as a cartoon. Voluptuous Sugar is deceived by candish Joe, but when the gangsters reappear,  as they must, Joe, like Daphne, is a different person.

Newly aware that too many men are ''rough hairy beasts'', his masculinity has been detoxified. You could even say that the slapstick, speakeasies and mobsters bursting out of giant cakes are still a cover for Wilder's morals of transformation and respect. He just doesn't make a song and dance about them.

The subtlety and his screwball masterpiece peaks in that last line. The replacement, '' I think you're perfect '' is an uplifting sentiment, well-suited to the brio of musical theatre and to an age that craves affirmation.

The magic of '' Nobody's perfect '' is that it's unexpected, but also that it is true. Nothing and nobody is flawless in the fallen world of Wilder knew and depicted, in which jokes are entwined with jeopardy, high jinks with woe and wrenching hope from hardship is victory enough.

That is the difference between a good night out and genius.

The World Students Society thanks The Economist for its Back Story : ''Nobody's perfect''.