Character guide
Sugar Kane
from Some Like It Hot
Sugar Kane is a lead character in Some Like It Hot, the 2022 musical comedy based on the classic film, portrayed as a singer in an all female band during Prohibition.
- Show
- Some Like It Hot
- Broadway premiere
- 2022
- Role
- Lead
- Music by
- Marc Shaiman
Sugar Kane: from the film to Broadway
Broadway compared with the 1959 film
Adrianna Hicks created Sugar Kane on Broadway in 2022, a role Marilyn Monroe played as Sugar Kane Kowalczyk in the 1959 film. The stage Sugar has bigger dreams: she longs for movie stardom, and by the end she has become a movie star for MGM.
Monroe's ukulele-playing Sugar sings I Wanna Be Loved by You and Runnin' Wild. The musical replaces those with new songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, including A Darker Shade of Blue, At the Old Majestic Nickel Matinee, and Ride Out the Storm. And instead of falling for Joe's fake Shell Oil heir, she falls for his fake Austrian screenwriter, Kip von der Plotz.
Who is Sugar Kane?
Sugar Kane sings and plays ukulele in Sweet Sue's all female band, chasing a music career while nursing a string of disappointing romances with musicians who let her down. Warm, funny, and a little guarded after being burned before, she becomes drawn to Joe, unaware he is disguised as a fellow bandmate named Josephine.
Her arc balances comic misunderstanding with real longing, as she searches for both artistic success and a relationship built on honesty, themes the show uses to update the character for a modern audience.
Sugar Kane's role in Some Like It Hot
Sugar Kane is a lead role requiring strong vocals and comic timing, since much of her material blends torch song style numbers with the show's farcical mistaken identity plot. Adrianna Hicks originated the role on Broadway, bringing both vocal power and warmth to a character who could easily be played as a simple femme fatale type.
Audiences remember Sugar for grounding the show's broader comedy in genuine emotional stakes, giving the musical a romantic core amid its disguises and chase sequences.
Sugar Kane: frequently asked questions
What show is Sugar Kane from?
Sugar Kane is a lead character in Some Like It Hot, which opened on Broadway in 2022.
Is Sugar Kane a lead or supporting role?
Sugar Kane is a lead role, appearing as a singer in Sweet Sue's all female band.
Who wrote the music for Some Like It Hot?
Marc Shaiman composed the music, with lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman.
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Some Like It Hot show guideMusical theatre characters A to Z