Amber Ruffin Joins Creative Team of SOME LIKE IT HOT; Coming to Broadway in 2022

The show will feature a book by Ruffin and Matthew López and music/lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.

By: Feb. 10, 2021
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Some Like It Hot has found a new member of its creative team! The Shubert Organization and Neil Meron have just announced Emmy nominated writer and performer Amber Ruffin joins Tony nominee Matthew López to adapt the musical comedy from the beloved MGM film.

Some Like It Hot will begin performances on Broadway in 2022.

Some Like It Hot is a brand-new Broadway musical comedy, featuring a book by Matthew López (The Inheritance) & Amber Ruffin ("The Amber Ruffin Show"), music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman (Hairspray) and direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon). The musical is based on the classic MGM Oscar-winning film Some Like It Hot which has been named the "Funniest American Movie of All Time" by the American Film Institute.

"As we continue the development of Some Like it Hot, we are thrilled that the talented and hilarious Amber Ruffin is joining our outstanding creative team and the extraordinary Kenny Leon is joining our producing team," said producers Bob Wankel and Neil Meron. "We warmly welcome them both to our Some Like It Hot family."

"I am so thrilled to be working with real Broadway legends Matthew López, Casey Nicholaw, Marc Shaiman, and Scott Wittman on this honestly groundbreaking project," added Ruffin. "This is truly a different kind of musical and I can't wait for people to see it!"

"When I was first approached to write Some Like it Hot, the idea that convinced me it was something worth doing - besides getting to work with Casey, Marc, and Scott - was the opportunity to take a classic comedy about Prohibition-era America and rethink it for a contemporary audience," said Matthew López. "As a queer BIPOC writer, it is an exciting proposition to create a show with characters whose race is instrumental (and not incidental) to the story. It became apparent to me that if we were to honor our commitment to tell that story with honesty and integrity, it required a Black creative voice on the team.

"It didn't take long for all of us to agree that Amber was the person to approach. It is my great joy and pleasure that she agreed to join us. That she's smart and funny and deeply kind is no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to her work and career these last several years. I cannot wait to huddle in the back of the theatre with her every night and work with her to continue to make this show the thing we all set out to create."

"We are thrilled the brilliant Amber Ruffin is joining Matthew, Casey, Marc, Scott, Bob and Neil for what we all believe will be an incredible stage experience of the timeless Some Like It Hot," said MGM On Stage's Michael DeLuca and Pamela Abdy.

Amber Ruffin is a writer, executive producer, and host of the WGA Award nominated series THE Amber Ruffin SHOW on Peacock. She is also an Emmy and WGA Award nominated writer and performer for NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers." Ruffin was the first African American female to write for a late-night network talk show in the U.S. She wrote and performed on Comedy Central's "Detroiters" and was a regular narrator on the cabler's "Drunk History." Ruffin was previously a performer at Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, the iO Theater and the Second City in Chicago. In addition, she was a writer/performer for the 2018 and 2019 Golden Globe Awards and has written for the series "A Black Lady Sketch Show." Ruffin is a recent New York Times bestselling author, along with her sister Lacey Lamar, of "You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories of Racism," published by Grand Central Publishing in January 2021.

Set in Chicago when Prohibition has everyone thirsty for a little excitement, SOME LIKE IT HOT is the rollicking story of two musicians forced to flee the Windy City after witnessing a mob hit. With gangsters hot on their heels, they're on the run as the newest members of the swingingest big band ever to cross the country. Can they hide in plain sight without completely losing themselves? Or will the mob, the truth, and maybe even love itself finally catch up to them?

Some Like It Hot is produced by The Shubert Organization and Neil Meron and co-produced by Roy Furman, Robert Greenblatt, The Nederlander Organization and Kenny Leon.



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