How do you save a failing business? How do you move a high-quality product when the public just isn’t buying? Sometimes, you just have to do what you do differently.
“Kinky Boots” is the brainchild of 1980s pop star Cyndi Lauper and Jewish gaytriarch, Harvey Fierstein. Not content to keep playing her old hits to grayheads in casinos, Lauper turned to composing for musical theatre and really proved herself. In 2013, “Kinky Boots” won six Tony awards including Best Musical. The Carnegie Theatre in Covington has mounted its own production and, as a fan of both musical theatre and drag, I was eager to attend.
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.” ~Harvey Fierstein
Standing up to bullies and defining ourselves is just what “Kinky Boots” is all about. Society has a lot of ideas about men and women, dictating our choices in hairstyle, clothing, footwear, body language and even our occupations. The Women’s Movement has been a sea change in the choices that women have, but for men who want to dress up in glitter and high heels…That takes some serious chutzpah.
Charlie Price is the heir to Price & Sons, a shoe factory in a small town that turns out high-quality men’s shoes. Unfortunately, high quality is just not what the public is willing to shell out for anymore. Shutting down and selling the factory to a developer would mean putting people out of work – people Charlie has known his entire life – and he just doesn’t have the heart to do it.
Needing a night out, Charlie’s friend Lauren takes him to a drag club where he meets Lola, a fierce queen who struts like royalty…until her high heel breaks. Her lady shoes just weren’t made to bear a grown man’s weight. That’s when Charlie sees an opportunity. Price & Sons will change from making Oxfords and Monk Straps to Go-Go Boots for drag queens. Tomi Newman sings with a soaring tenor as Charlie. With bright eyes and a sweet, boy-next-door face, they shine with a youthful optimism that makes us root for them even when they’re being petulant.
Montez O. Jenkins Copeland knows how to make an entrance as Lola. Fierce and funny in red pleather and sequins, this queen holds court in every room she enters. And woe to him who calls her any less than a real man. As a boy, Lola’s father taught her how to box like a champ.
For working-class blokes weaned on machismo, the change in footwear is uncomfortable. Sure, a paycheck is a paycheck, but this is a threat to who they think they are supposed to be. Feelings of insecurity quickly turn grown men back into schoolyard bullies. Jathan “JB” Briscoe gives a nicely layered performance as Don. In a boxing duel, jabs and hook punches from Lola crack his macho veneer revealing a vulnerable soul underneath.
Monique Churchill is exuberant as Lauren. She is lovesick for Charlie, yet shy. It will take some doing, but you just know she will get her man. Likewise, Andres Martinez has some nicely subtle moments as the likeable nebbish, George. The sparkly world of drag is not the world he was born into, but it’s one he was destined to find. If I were to add anything, it would be a little side arc romance between George and one of the backup queens.
Of course, drag is nothing without pageantry. Hats off to a great production team including professional drag performers Kora Sline (aka Kayne O’Brien) and Nala Jones (aka Jaylen Turner) for a sassy display of outfits, wigs, and makeup that turn men into fabulous queens.
Lauper’s music is like a moody teenager, filled with joy and sorrow, anger and love, holding nothing back. It is a stubbornly defiant spirit that cries, “Hell, yeah! We CAN change the world!” The final number, Just Be had us on our feet, clapping and singing along in jubilation.
“Just be who you wanna be
Never let them tell you who you oughta be
Just be with dignity
Celebrate yourself triumphantly”
And changing the world is exactly what we need to do. With so many state legislators seeking to censor public discourse on sexuality and gender identity, we need to stand up and sing out. We need to resist with rebellious joy. Well, “Kinky Boots” has joy to spare, so sashay to the Carnegie and then get down to the polls to vote.
“Kinky Boots” plays at the Carnegie Theatre in Covington, Ky., through Aug. 19.
