'Tootsie' leaps from screen to the Orpheum stage

"Tootsie" director Sydney Pollack's 1982 film starring Dustin Hoffman as a difficult-to-work-with actor who pretends to be a woman so that he can get roles, has achieved icon status. Inducted into the National Film Registry, the film was second only to "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" for that year's box office gross. But it has not aged well.

So, when book-writer Robert Horn and composer David Yazbek adapted the story for the stage, they changed a few things to bring it into a world where attitudes have changed much in the four decades since.

The title itself announces its intent: "Tootsie — A New Comedy Musical."

"We've changed the show to modern day to appeal to audiences of all ages," said actor Payton Reilly, who has been on the road for two years with the Broadway tour that opens Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis.

Both the film and 2018 stage versions have strong Minnesota ties. Jessica Lange, a Cloquet, Minn., native, won an Academy Award for her role in the movie while Tony winner Santino Fontana, who cut his teeth at the Guthrie Theater, played the Dustin Hoffman character on Broadway.

Here are five ways in which the musical adaptation updates the film.

Setting: The film's setting of the soap opera world of the 1980s, where Michael Dorsey becomes Dorothy Michaels so that he can land parts, has been transposed to today's Broadway. That shift from screen to stage allows for the creative team to draw from a more expansive kit of theatrical tools, Horn said in a statement.

"Trying to put a TV show onstage is not often successful for a musical, and would have created a whole world of challenges," Horn said. "We decided to put it in the world of musical theater because it felt organic to it becoming a musical … a reason for them to sing."

Added Reilly, who plays Michael's girlfriend Sandy: "You get a level of spectacle and fun because we're able to incorporate all the singing and dancing and flashy gorgeous numbers."

Women in society: The musical also reflects the impact and progress women have made since the film.

"There is both a strength and vulnerability to the women portrayed in the musical that I think, sadly, might not have resonated back in the early '80s," Horn said. "Michael changes and grows because of his experience of being with Julie — a woman who navigates her own obstacles with determination and confidence."

Changing the focus of the plot: Some of the punchlines in the film revolve around a man wearing a dress. The musical sought to change that focus to the desperation of a desperate actor facing the question about not being wanted anymore.

"When you're told you can no longer do the one thing you love most in the world, how far would desperation take you?" Horn said. "It's something that haunts everyone in this business, no matter how successful. To me, that was a story worth building on… since it feeds my neurosis constantly."

Navigating a minefield: Even with the new emphasis, the fact that its central plot is about a man impersonating a woman to get a leg up in life has come up for scrutiny as misogynistic against trans women.

"Our story is about an actor who's so desperate to get a part, he's willing to live dual lives," Reilly said. "It's Shakespearean that way. It's funny not because it's a man in a dress but because of how is he going to juggle to keep up the facade?"

Mosaic of America: "Our cast is a beautifully diverse group of people," Reilly said. "Not setting it in the '80s is a strong choice that means that everybody can see themselves represented onstage. This really is a story of love and finding who you are."

'Tootsie — A New Comedy Musical'

Who: Music and lyrics by David Yazbek. Book by Robert Horn. Directed by Scott Ellis.

When: 7:30 p.m. Tue.-Thu., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun.

Where: Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.

Tickets: $40-$139. hennepintheatretrust.org.