Beyond Plenty of Well-Heeled Fun, 'Kinky Boots' Shows a Whole Lot of Sole -- Chicago Theater Review

Theater Review

Kinky Boots
a new musical with
book by Harvey Fierstein
music/lyrics by Cyndi Lauper
directed & choreographed
by Jerry Mitchell
Bank of America Theatre, Chicago
Thru November 4
@@@@1/2

Chicago is a wonderful, widely-embracing theater town. Which is why our fair city is often selected by producers for “out-of-town tryout” runs of shows that are—or so it is hoped—headed for Broadway. Just in this century, The Producers, Spamalot, Movin’ Out and The Addams Family are among the musicals Windy City audiences have been the very first to see.

For us theater aficionados (and self-perceived critics), getting to see a Pre-Broadway World Premiere is a pretty big deal, even if the show will be vastly altered—as with Movin’ Out and The Addams Family—and/or remain lousy—e.g. The Pirate Queen, Sweet Smell of Success, All Shook Up—by the time it gets to Broadway and beyond.

So, while appreciating the current economic climate and that the marquee names involved aren’t appearing onstage, it was somewhat disconcerting that the balcony of Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre was considerably undersold for the very first public performance of Kinky Boots, a bona fide world premiere musical that already has a date set—April 4, 2013—for its Broadway opening.

But à la acknowledging the many devoted White Sox fans who showed up to support the team down the stretch despite rolling my eyes at all the accompanying empty seats, I applaud the audience on Tuesday night that gave a well-deserved standing ovation to what is already one of the best new musicals of the last few years.

I don’t condemn anyone for not yet rushing out to see Kinky Boots, which is based on a 2005 movie I'd never heard of, but if you read this and presumably much higher profile rave reviews and still stay away, don’t call yourself a lover of the Broadway art form or whine that new musicals all too frequently merely co-opt popular franchises and familiar songs.

Jerry Mitchell, Harvey Fierstein, Cyndi Lauper

Bringing Kinky Boots to the stage was seemingly the brainchild of director Jerry Mitchell, a long-acclaimed Broadway choreographer who directed 2007’s Legally Blonde, another musical I thought was terrific if not quite historic. To write the book, he enlisted Harvey Fierstein, who won a Tony for writing La Cage Aux Folles and has written and/or starred in many other Broadway shows.

The music and lyrics here were composed by Cyndi Lauper, who may not seem like an obvious choice given that she had never before written for the stage—and didn’t even write some of her mid-‘80s hits (including “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”). But although a couple of Kinky Boots’ full score of original songs have a synth-pop sheen, Lauper proves herself rather adept at writing satisfying showtunes.

This isn’t so shocking given that she has maintained a stylistically-diverse career for years since the apex of her fame, but I doubt many hearing songs such as “The Most Beautiful Thing” or “Sex Is In the Heel” would necessarily think that they “sound like Cyndi Lauper.”

Upon a first encounter, the melodies themselves—at least most of them—don’t quite drive the show’s appeal as much as the unique storyline and strong leading performances, but beyond being enjoyably complementary, a good number of tunes truly stand out, including the two named above, plus “Hold Me In Your Heart” (something of this show’s “I Am What I Am” from La Cage Aux Folles) and the ebullient closer “Raise You  Up/Just Be.”

Set in the north of England, Kinky Boots is about a young man named Charlie Price (appealingly played by Broadway veteran Stark Sands) who unsuspectingly inherits his family’s longstanding shoe factory, only to discover that it’s about to go under. I’ll be sparing on plot specifics, but through an encounter with a drag queen named Lola—Billy Porter, who I predict will win next year’s Tony Award for best actor in a musical—Charlie hits upon the idea of manufacturing high-heeled boots with the stability to suit transvestites and drag queens (the distinction is explained), unlike traditional women’s footwear.

Billy Porter and Stark Sands

Charlie hires Lola—am I the only one who imagines a Kinks reference?—to help with the design, and while all the expected tentpoles are hit—disbelief, ridicule, bigotry, misunderstanding, etc.—Fierstein’s book, Lauper’s songs and the impressive work by Porter, Sands and Annaleigh Ashford (as Lauren, a factory worker with a crush on Charlie), instill Kinky Boots with a substantial amount of heart and ‘sole.’

Not to mention, a whole lot of fun.

Kinky Boots might have been made for walking tall in one’s own skin (and whatever makeup may be applied), but the high energy affair also makes for a thoroughly entertaining evening.

With the caveat that I saw its very first performance, I don’t think the show quite merits a full @@@@@, particularly because I believe there are a number of musicals from the past decade or so that are a bit better, including several that espouse similar “champion your individuality, even in the face of adversity” themes—Hairspray, Wicked, Billy Elliott, Spring Awakening, even Mitchell’s Legally Blonde, to name just a few.

But if just a day into its official existence, Kinky Boots can stand quite proudly on its own two feet, I feel safe in suggesting that this is a show—if not the next Tony winner, at least a nominee—you (yes, you) really should “tryout.” Especially as all of this week’s upcoming performances are discounted on HotTix ($45-$50 + fees for choice seats) and balcony tickets priced at $30-$35 should seemingly be available at the door for most shows (Ticketmaster's interactive seat map makes it easy to get a good idea of availability before you go).