The 2005 semi-musical comedy film Kinky Boots was one of those films that, like School of Rock or Billy Elliot, seemed to be crying out for musicalization so openly that one is surprised it took as long as it did for someone to get around to it.
The book, by Harvey Fierstein, is decidedly on the thin side, seems to recycle many of the same jokes Fierstein used in La Cage Aux Folles, and apart from one or two genuinely moving moments, doesn’t have much in the way of actual substance, but two elements manage to carry the show. The first is a potent sense of subversive dirty humor, which comes out more in the staging and performances than the dialogue, with lots of physical comedy and a performing style that is simultaneously hammy and extremely nuanced. The actual production seems like little more than an update of the sets and costumes seen in La Cage Aux Folles, but despite the similarly recycled jokes that make up most of the book, the show’s merrily risque performing sensibility is all its own.
The second is Cyndi Lauper’s generally excellent score: many songwriters in the fields of Rock and Pop, including such legends as Paul Simon and Randy Newman, have been defeated by the needs of a theater score, but Lauper selected the perfect material for her Broadway debut, and she even managed to one-up the classic Pop songs on the original film’s soundtrack. Highlights include the opening, “The Most Beautiful Thing in the World”, a comically rhapsodic ode to shoes; the scintillating personality showcase introducing our star character, “Land of Lola”; the showstopping Funk scorcher “Sex Is In the Heel”; “The History of Wrong Guys”, a hilarious musical monologue in which a smitten girl in the throes of infatuation for the hero tries to talk herself down; and the two moving ballads which form the show’s most emotional moments, the heartbreaking “Not My Father’s Son” and the devastating eleven-o’clock number “Hold Me In Your Heart”. And while the show as a whole is ultimately more a glitzy entertainment than an inspirational story, the almost gospel-like grand finale and closing message, “Raise You Up/Just Be” might actually manage to convince you you’ve learned something.
When you combine these elements with a sufficiently resplendent and hilarious performance in the show’s star part, scorching drag-queen powerhouse Lola, you’ve got one Hell of a show on your hands (among the people who have played the part are veteran Broadway star Billy Porter and improv legend Wayne Brady). While Lola isn’t actually the main character in a narrative sense, hers is definitely the starring role in show business terms, and even the book makes her far more interesting than the straight-laced leading man who serves as her straight man and sounding board. As stated, this isn’t the most substantial show you’ll ever encounter, and it certainly had no business winning the Tony over the brilliant Matilda, but if you’re willing to accept an old-fashioned piece of pure stage entertainment in an attention-getting new outfit, I can’t deny that this show makes for an exceptionally enjoyable evening at the theater.
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