Susan Granger’s review of “Kinky Boots” (Al Hirschfeld Theater – 2012-2013 season)
If you’ve been wondering where all those fun-lovin’, high-steppin’, drop-dead gorgeous drag-queens from “Priscilla: Queen of the Desert” and “La Cage Aux Folles” have gone, Cyndi Lauper’s got ‘em.
Based on a campy, fact-based 2005 British comedy, Harvey Fierstein wrote the story of how Charlie Price (Stark Sands) inherits his family’s failing shoe factory in Northampton and realizes he must come up with a new niche market. After a fateful encounter with strong ‘n’ sassy Lola (Billy Porter), a London drag-queen, he decides to focus on flashy, thigh-high, stiletto-heeled footwear – for cross-dressing men. Or, as diva Lola puts it: “You’re going to have to start manufacturing sex: two-and-a-half feet of irresistible tubular sex…in bright red!”
Their goal is to dazzle buyers at the upcoming international shoe expo in Milan, but the road there is filled with dangerous detours en route to self-esteem. Not only is one of the provincial factory workers homophobic, bullying Lola, but Charlie’s status-seeking fiancée Nicola (Celina Carvajal) wants him to convert the industrial site into condominiums. Then there’s Lauren (Annaleigh Ashford), one of Charlie’s employees, who’s had a crush on him for years, despite a “History of Wrong Guys.”
Sure, the father/son plot’s formulaic and predictable but director Jerry Mitchell is a terrific choreographer, and composer/lyricist Cyndi Lauper’s quirky score gives him lots of propulsive show tunes to work with. Memorable numbers include “The Most Beautiful Thing (In the World is a Shoe),” “The Land of Lola,” “Raise You Up/Just be,” “Soul of a Man,” “Sex Is in the Heel” and “Everybody Say Yeah” – while cheeky costumer Gregg Barnes, hair/wig expert Josh Marquette and make-up artist Randy Houston Mercer work overtime with the stunning sparkles and sequins.
While audience members can buy a T-shirt, the dazzling boots are not for sale. Costing approx. $2,500 a pair, they’re designed by cobblers T.O. Dey, Phil LaDuca and Manolo Blahnik and made in Puglia, Italy.
If you’re looking for flashy, flamboyant fun, “Kinky Boots” is a blast.