Back in June, The Wife and I saw the touring company production of the musical Kinky Boots at Proctors Theatre in nearby Schenectady, NY.
The book was written by actor, playwright, and voice actor Harvey Fierstein, based on the Miramax motion picture written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth. Music and lyrics were by Cyndi Lauper, probably best known for the song Girls Just Want To Have Fun.
What I wanted to know: how did I NOT know about the movie version? OH, it came out in 2005, when the Daughter was one, and her parents were still in a sleep-deprived fog.
As for the storyline, it was quite compelling. “A drag queen comes to the rescue of a man who, after inheriting his father’s shoe factory, needs to diversify his product if he wants to keep the business afloat.” That drag queen suggests moving from those conservative shoe styles that were no longer selling to something a bit more daring. This was not necessarily an easy sell for some of the long-tenured factory workers, who, in fact, might be out of jobs altogether without the diversification. But, as a business librarian, it was easy to see the value of this strategy.
The musical I enjoyed quite a bit, though I was unfamiliar with any of the songs. Much of the audience seemed to know when the showstopper songs were going to come up.
In addition to Broadway and the US tour, the show is running in London, England; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and the show will be performed in 2016 in Melbourne, Australia.
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Raise You Up – finale
Billy Porter is (still) the star of Kinky Boots, the long-running hit on Broadway. At the performance on June 26, 2015, he made a touching curtain speech.
