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| Kinky Boots |
In the world of Kinky Boots, there is one thing that unites us all. Male or female, queer or straight, rich or poor, we all need shoes. As the opening song will immediately tip the audience off to "The Most Beautiful Thing in the World is a Shoe." It's something that feels taken for granted, but they're a form of expression and throughout the lavish, enjoyable show they become something more than leather and string laced together. It's a chance to connect shoe factory worker Charlie Price (Lukas Poost) to a world he thought he'd never be involved with: the turn-of-the-century drag queen culture that needs a heel stylish enough for a woman, but strong enough for a man. The worlds blur together as each new song gets the crowd moving and shows that everyone is not only deserving of good shoes, but also of respect.
Charlie starts the story as a familiar type of protagonist. He's a reluctant hero, taking over his father's (Guy Noland) business Price and Son upon his retirement. He has no charisma for business, nor really the drive to make great shoes. His relationships are fine at best, but he barely understands his betrothed Lauren (Emily Goglia) better than running a factory on the verge of closing. Nothing is going right and this sense of letting down a family legacy looms over the show from the beginning. On the other side is Lola (Cornelius Jones Jr.), whose love for a good heel was the constant source of resentment from his father. In both cases, the sons struggle to understand the value of shoes that their fathers don't, and it is what gives the musical an emotional core that makes it more than glitter and sparkles.
The concept from there is silly. Hearing a drag queen go on about how red is an erotic color while burgundy isn't is a concept that is used often not only as a source for wild, campy humor but also as a way to reflect the rifts between Lola and her more heteronormative supporting male cast. Because the men aren't being judged, they don't have to understand the value of colors radiating through a room, nor why a kinky boot is so precious. Charlie is about as whitebread as they come, and to see him clash with Lola following a dazzling club show set during the song "The Land of Lola" feels like the first step into a greater tolerance. It's in simple things, like the difference between transvestites and drag queens (one actually tries to look pretty). Lola comes across as the eccentric gal pal you'd like to have around to talk gossip. In that way, it's helping to break down barriers with the audience, creating an understanding of lingo and cultural signifiers that will make later numbers like "The Sex is in the Heel" come across as more than these goofy fetish songs. They're about value and identity, which is something Charlie has personally lost in his business.
From there the odd couple dynamic is what sells the show. While the supporting cast is sometimes delightful, this is largely a show about two men coming to terms with their own legacies in relation to their father. During the touching number, "I'm Not My Father's Son," both spend a verse discussing how they have let their father down, not quite living up to their approval. With simple turns of phrases, it becomes about more than their lifestyles. It's about how they're similar, looking for acceptance for their own interests. It's a rare moment where Lola isn't sporting a sequined dress, commanding the attention of a room with fiery one-liners that tear down homophobic co-workers. It gives the show more depth and shows that for as much as this is a show about making shoes, it's about achieving one's truest potential. Charlie slowly comes out of his shell throughout the story, becoming more expressive and exciting.
Still, one can't help but be taken in by Lola's magnetism, the richest character with an emotional depth not entirely present in the 2005 film it was adapted from. Jones gives her much more of a dynamic, allowing humor to punch through at key times without fading into tired caricature. What's left by the end is an understanding of drag culture through the eyes of someone who feels insecure and vulnerable without a wig on finally getting that moment to find an in-between comfort.
This isn't to exclude the phenomenal physicality that comes with the role, often split with a group of drag queen dancers known as "The Angels." With several show-stopping numbers, the show makes up for its sometimes for its Rent-style pop-rock sound with a spectacle that jolts with inspiration. The Act 1 closer "Everybody Say Yeah" is the best example of this as the shoe factory's conveyor belt is cleverly broken into several sections for dancers to move on like a treadmill. It's all so unexpected and, in a show that includes The Angels constantly doing flips and splits, makes one believe in the power of theater. It's the exuberant number that is only outdone by the closer "Raise You Up/Just Be." Even then, seeing Act 1 close with Charlie and his co-workers triumphant thrusting a shoe into the air has confirmed the show's intent. If the audience thought it was silly going in, they'll no longer doubt the value of a shoe.
The rest is something that deserves to be seen on its own. Prior to the show's start, it was announced that the props and costumes were taken from the original Broadway production, and it shows. Every outfit has a dazzling level of detail, with every red boot able to shimmer with light, dazzling the viewer in the back row. It's a colorful show and one that believes in self-expression through it. The fun time ends on the highest note, and with dazzling runway lights and confetti, it feels like the self-affirmation party that the show has been alluding to. If a show's measurement for success is leaving its audience wanting more, then Kinky Boots nailed it.
For a musical that could easily be a campy ode to materialism, it finds so much more to adore in the manufacturing of a shoe. In fact, it feels like a red herring for what's really being explored throughout the story. Sure, it has catchy tunes and some of the more limber and harmonious drag queens to grace a theater stage, but it's a touching drama at the center about this desire to be understood through self-expression, of two men coming in touch with their identity in different ways. The story follows a sense of understanding that deserves to be shared time and again, especially when the songs are this good. Lola is an immediately memorable character and one who leaves everyone on stage and off better for having listened to her story. Thankfully it continues to resonate with audiences and makes a strong case for paying extra for good footwear at the same time - if not for expression, then at least to meet dress code to see 3-D Theatricals' excellent production again.
Still, one can't help but be taken in by Lola's magnetism, the richest character with an emotional depth not entirely present in the 2005 film it was adapted from. Jones gives her much more of a dynamic, allowing humor to punch through at key times without fading into tired caricature. What's left by the end is an understanding of drag culture through the eyes of someone who feels insecure and vulnerable without a wig on finally getting that moment to find an in-between comfort.
This isn't to exclude the phenomenal physicality that comes with the role, often split with a group of drag queen dancers known as "The Angels." With several show-stopping numbers, the show makes up for its sometimes for its Rent-style pop-rock sound with a spectacle that jolts with inspiration. The Act 1 closer "Everybody Say Yeah" is the best example of this as the shoe factory's conveyor belt is cleverly broken into several sections for dancers to move on like a treadmill. It's all so unexpected and, in a show that includes The Angels constantly doing flips and splits, makes one believe in the power of theater. It's the exuberant number that is only outdone by the closer "Raise You Up/Just Be." Even then, seeing Act 1 close with Charlie and his co-workers triumphant thrusting a shoe into the air has confirmed the show's intent. If the audience thought it was silly going in, they'll no longer doubt the value of a shoe.
The rest is something that deserves to be seen on its own. Prior to the show's start, it was announced that the props and costumes were taken from the original Broadway production, and it shows. Every outfit has a dazzling level of detail, with every red boot able to shimmer with light, dazzling the viewer in the back row. It's a colorful show and one that believes in self-expression through it. The fun time ends on the highest note, and with dazzling runway lights and confetti, it feels like the self-affirmation party that the show has been alluding to. If a show's measurement for success is leaving its audience wanting more, then Kinky Boots nailed it.
For a musical that could easily be a campy ode to materialism, it finds so much more to adore in the manufacturing of a shoe. In fact, it feels like a red herring for what's really being explored throughout the story. Sure, it has catchy tunes and some of the more limber and harmonious drag queens to grace a theater stage, but it's a touching drama at the center about this desire to be understood through self-expression, of two men coming in touch with their identity in different ways. The story follows a sense of understanding that deserves to be shared time and again, especially when the songs are this good. Lola is an immediately memorable character and one who leaves everyone on stage and off better for having listened to her story. Thankfully it continues to resonate with audiences and makes a strong case for paying extra for good footwear at the same time - if not for expression, then at least to meet dress code to see 3-D Theatricals' excellent production again.
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