Photo by Sean Williams
"Everybody Say Yeah!" because two of the original stars of the Broadway production of the 2013 Tony Award-winning Best Musical Kinky Boots are coming back to the factory! Yes, Tony winner Billy Porter and Tony nominee Stark Sands are reprising their roles as Lola and Charlie Price, respectively, at the Al Hirschfeld this week! So we're raising it up and celebrating the Cyndi Lauper tuner as our #ShowOfTheWeek!
Mr. Porter and Mr. Sands were hugely important and integral factors for Kinky Boots becoming such a global success and the opportunities to see beloved original cast members return to their iconic roles are sadly rare on the Great White Way, so if you want to relive the glory or you missed them the first time around and are wondering what the fuss was all about, then why not head down to the "Land of Lola" and find out for yourselves?
The success of Kinky Boots has been phenomenal. With the dream team of director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell, songwriter Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein, the show garnered a total of six Tony Awards and a Grammy, whilst the West End production picked up three Olivier Awards, winning "Best New Musical" on both sides of the Atlantic. So why exactly is the musical still so popular? Well, I believe the story's central, universal themes have a lot to do with it...
All of us want to feel acceptance in life, whether that comes from our parents, our partners, our peers or in the workplace. The show's principal characters cover all those bases, so it is more than likely that an audience member will identify with at least one of them. I would wager that a large portion of the musical's fans truly empathise with Lola/Simon's tear-jerking ballad "Not My Father's Son," which tells the history of Simon's upbringing and his struggle of choosing between the man his father wanted him to be and his true self, which would undoubtedly cause a rift in their relationship. This moment in the show alone is reason enough to make sure you witness Kinky Boots in person.
Another reason to buy a ticket is to see a talented bunch of "ladies" strutting their stuff in six-inch heels to Jerry Mitchell's Tony-winning choreography. These six guys aka Lola's Angels are the unsung heroes of this piece. Every time you feel that the pace is in danger of dropping, snap! Here they come, delivering the wow-factor. My hat also goes off to the fantastic costume design by Gregg Barnes for kitting them out in the most colourful and outlandish gear.
So, treat yourselves to a loud and emotional night out at the Al Hirschfeld theatre with the show's original stars, Billy Porter and Stark Sands, and "Just Be"...
Click here for tickets to Kinky Boots for performances through to August 27, 2017, at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre.
Stark Sands & Billy Porter in Kinky Boots More production photosOriginally published on