by Pa Rock
Theatre Fan
The Broadway traveling presentation of the hit musical, Kinky Boots, will complete a three-night run this evening at Kansas City's beautiful Starlight Theatre. My son and I were in the audience last night, and, as usual, Tim scored some great tickets. If things got dull on the stage, which they never did, we could always look down into the orchestra pit and almost read the sheet music.
Kinky Boots is based very tightly on the British movie of the same name which came out a decade or so ago - except that the stage version is a rocking musical. The stage version was penned by American playwright and actor, Harvey Firestein, and all of the songs were composed by pop singer and songwriter, Cyndi Lauper.
(I saw Cyndi Lauper three years ago in Kansas City when she opened for Cher. At that time Lauper was plugging Kinky Boots which was still running on Broadway.)
The plot: A young man from Northampton, England, Charlie Price, leaves his struggling family business, a shoe-manufacturing firm, and heads off to London with his girlfriend, an employee of the company, to lead a more exciting life. As soon as they arrive in the big city, Charlie gets a phone call telling him that his father has died. Charlie returns to Northamptom and tries to figure out a way to save the business and keep providing employment and paychecks to his many friends who still work there. His girlfriend, however, is not so charitable and wants to see the business closed up and the building sold to a condominium developer.
As the story develops, Charlie meets a drag queen named Lola and they come up with a scheme to save the company by making beautiful (and strong) boots for drag queens. Charlie sees that as a "niche" market which was not being addressed by other shoemakers. The rest of the tale centers on conflicts between Charlie and his self-serving girlfriend and the emotional upheaval that ensues when ordinary factory workers begin to focus on the lives and needs of drag queens.
I have been to three Broadway traveling shows at the Starlight over the past two seasons: Pippin, An American in Paris, and Kinky Boots. All were exceptional productions, but Kinky Boots was far and away the most energetic - and it attracted an exceptional audience which captured that energy and reflected it right back onto the stage. And through it all, the whole placed rocked out to Cyndi Lauper's wonderful music!
Firestein and Lauper have come up with a winner. I highly recommend Kinky Boots - and the Starlight Theatre in early autumn is the perfect place to enjoy this great slice of modern American musical theatre!
Theatre Fan
The Broadway traveling presentation of the hit musical, Kinky Boots, will complete a three-night run this evening at Kansas City's beautiful Starlight Theatre. My son and I were in the audience last night, and, as usual, Tim scored some great tickets. If things got dull on the stage, which they never did, we could always look down into the orchestra pit and almost read the sheet music.
Kinky Boots is based very tightly on the British movie of the same name which came out a decade or so ago - except that the stage version is a rocking musical. The stage version was penned by American playwright and actor, Harvey Firestein, and all of the songs were composed by pop singer and songwriter, Cyndi Lauper.
(I saw Cyndi Lauper three years ago in Kansas City when she opened for Cher. At that time Lauper was plugging Kinky Boots which was still running on Broadway.)
The plot: A young man from Northampton, England, Charlie Price, leaves his struggling family business, a shoe-manufacturing firm, and heads off to London with his girlfriend, an employee of the company, to lead a more exciting life. As soon as they arrive in the big city, Charlie gets a phone call telling him that his father has died. Charlie returns to Northamptom and tries to figure out a way to save the business and keep providing employment and paychecks to his many friends who still work there. His girlfriend, however, is not so charitable and wants to see the business closed up and the building sold to a condominium developer.
As the story develops, Charlie meets a drag queen named Lola and they come up with a scheme to save the company by making beautiful (and strong) boots for drag queens. Charlie sees that as a "niche" market which was not being addressed by other shoemakers. The rest of the tale centers on conflicts between Charlie and his self-serving girlfriend and the emotional upheaval that ensues when ordinary factory workers begin to focus on the lives and needs of drag queens.
I have been to three Broadway traveling shows at the Starlight over the past two seasons: Pippin, An American in Paris, and Kinky Boots. All were exceptional productions, but Kinky Boots was far and away the most energetic - and it attracted an exceptional audience which captured that energy and reflected it right back onto the stage. And through it all, the whole placed rocked out to Cyndi Lauper's wonderful music!
Firestein and Lauper have come up with a winner. I highly recommend Kinky Boots - and the Starlight Theatre in early autumn is the perfect place to enjoy this great slice of modern American musical theatre!
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