KINKY BOOTS

AL HIRSCHFELD THEATRE
BROADWAY 
MAY 4, 2013

SYNOPSIS: The most recent Tony Award winner for Best New Musical is currently playing to sold out audiences at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Based on the 2005 movie, Kinky Boots follows a young man named Charlie, who moves away from his father’s Northampton shoe factory to the bustling city of London in order to pursue a career in marketing with his fiance, Nicola. When his father dies unexpectedly, Charlie is forced to return to his home and he must decide what to do with his father’s failing shoe factory. Enter Lola, a sassy but classy drag queen, who inspires Charlie to start a new and innovative line of men’s footwear for drag queens, AKA kinky boots, and together, they work to save his father’s factory and the jobs of its workers. 

COMMENTS: I love it when a new show comes to Broadway and initially, there’s not much buzz about it. Then (seemingly overnight), the rush lines are a block long, performances are sold out, there are no ticket discounts, and the show becomes the Broadway musical to see. 

This seems to be the case for Kinky Boots, a new musical directed by Jerry Mitchell, with a book by Harvey Fierstein, and music by Cyndi Lauper. Big names in the world of theatre. One might expect some hype, but instead, all the hype surrounded the Olivier award winning musical, Matilda. For months and months, all I heard about was Matilda, who was sure to win the Tony Award for Best New Musical. What’s a kinky boot? 

Luckily, the world soon found out what a kinky boot is. Now the winner of six Tony Awards (with 13 nominations) including Best New Musical, this production is doing quite well over at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre and I suspect it will be running for a long time. 

I think the success of Kinky Boots is largely attributed to the fact that most everyone loves a story about equality and acceptance and can appreciate its heartwarming message. The story is injected with humor and great musical numbers so that it avoids becoming too predictable or bland. Speaking of the music, the score (composed by Tony winner Cyndi Lauper- the first female to win Best Score solo) is very strong. I have since purchased the cast recording, and it’s one of those CDs that I can listen to without skipping any songs. 

After being away from Broadway for many years, Billy Porter has finally found his perfect role. As drag queen Lola, Billy Porter is wise, vulnerable, sassy, and fierce. He truly steals the show. I think the group of actors who were Tony nominated for Best Lead Actor in a musical gave some of the strongest performances of the season and I myself was having difficulty deciding who to root for. When all is said and done, Billy deserved to win. 

Not that fellow nominee Stark Sands wasn’t great in his role as Charlie. Billy Porter may have stolen the show, but Stark Sands was the glue that held the show together. He had great chemistry with the other actors on stage, especially Lauren, played by Tony award nominee Annaleigh Ashford. Annaleigh, as usual, nailed the comedic timing. She is truly one of Broadway’s “funny ladies”. I also loved the factory workers, who gave the impression of being one great big family on stage. 

I highly recommend Kinky Boots on Broadway. There’s something for everyone in this new musical. Check it out at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre! 

BEST TONY MOMENTS 2013

1.) BEST SPEECH- Billy Porter has waited so long for his perfect stage role, and watching him accept his first Tony Award was just the icing on the cake. Remember Stark, he’s keeping that Tony at his house. 

2.) BEST PRESENTER(S)- Jesse Tyler Ferguson (with Jane Krakowski) burst out with “Girl, you’re gonna have fun tonight” when he presented Cyndi Lauper with the Tony Award for Best Score. Very clever, JTF. And the audience went wild. 

3.) BEST DRESSED- Annaleigh Ashford 

4.) BEST PERFORMANCE- The Opening Number was by far the best performance of the evening with lots of laugh-out-loud-inducing lyrics. For example. 

“You could bounce a quarter off the ass of Billy Porter”. 

“Hats off to Berry Gordy, he runs Motown like a boss. He dominates Top 40 and he banged Diana Ross”. 

And to the Broadway kids, NPH sings, “Is there a Tony daycare where all of you go?... Do your parents set aside your Broadway dough”? 

“Can I have my Tom Hooper Les Mis close-up please? You see, on Broadway, we don’t need extreme close-ups to prove we’re singing live”. 

“If you win, have the time of your life, tell your manager, dad and your mom, thanks. Hi to your kids and your husband or wife, maybe just for the hell of it, Tom Hanks”. 

“Kathie Lee’s a Broadway lyricist so anything can happen”. 

In addition to the clever lyrics, Neil Patrick Harris was just phenomenal when you think about the limited rehearsal time. He didn’t stumble on a single word and he was full of energy. I see an Emmy win in NPH’s future! Bravo! 

5. “OTHER” BEST MOMENTS-

Shout-outs to Cinderella for those seamless costume “transformations”. They were just as magical on TV as they were in person! More shout-outs to Matilda for including all of their principal actors and all four Matildas in their Tony performance. And finally, one last shout-out to Jane Lynch, who can actually sing pretty well. She is definitely scaring those “Little Girls” over at the Palace Theatre! 

Dogfight

Off-Broadway

Second Stage Theatre

July 14th, 2012 matinee

Background and Synopsis: Yesterday, I had the pleasure of seeing the new off-Broadway musical, Dogfight, at Second Stage. Set to open on Monday, July 16th, Dogfight is based on the 1991 movie of the same name which starred River Phoenix and Lili Taylor. Directed by Tony Award winner Joe Mantello with a score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and book by Peter Duchan, Dogfight chronicles the events of November 21, 1963, as a group of Marines prepare for one last night of fun before shipping out to Vietnam the next day. When the Marines make a bet on who can find the ugliest date, Eddie Birdlace meets Rose Fenny, a plain, inexperienced waitress, and the cruel game turns into an unusual and unexpected connection between the two. 

Comments: There is something very special about Dogfight- perhaps it is the raw and honest manner in which the characters are written by Peter Duchan. The New York stage has seen many musicals based on movies recently, but not all of them have succeeded as a musical. This production is a great example of a movie that actually works as a musical, much like the Tony Award winning musical, Once. The simple, but compelling story is enhanced by a hauntingly beautiful score written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, two fairly new, up and coming composers!  Rather than interrupt the story with big, showy numbers, the music of Dogfight elicits character reflection and propels the story forward. There are many laugh-out-loud moments, the kinds that make you wonder how the actors are keeping straight faces. In fact, Dogfight exemplifies the even balance between drama and comic relief. 

Rose Fenny is played by Lindsay Mendez, recently seen in the Broadway revival of Godspell singing “Bless the Lord”. Known for belting songs out of the vocal stratosphere, Lindsay’s portrayal of Rose is, of course, more subdued than her previous roles, but it definitely accentuated the warmth, richness, and expression in her amazing voice. Lindsay didn’t play Rose as an unattractive, mousy young waitress, but rather as a sheltered, inexperienced, intelligent girl with profound insight into people, specifically Eddie. Derek Klena (of Carrie) played the flawed and hot-tempered Eddie Birdlace. He did a great job of portraying the emotional layers of such a complicated character. 

The supporting cast was also excellent. Standing out were Nick Blaemire as Bernstein, Josh Segarra as Boland, and Annaleigh Ashford as Marcy. In particular, Annaleigh really nailed the comedic timing as Boland’s opportunistic date.  

If you want to see an enjoyable, heartfelt musical with a talented cast and beautiful music written by a pair of promising new composers, please check out Dogfight at Second Stage Theatre. It is not to be missed.