When the 2005 British comedy-drama film Kinky Boots came out Peg and I saw it at the Grand Cinema in downtown Tacoma. We both enjoyed the movie. When we joined BroadwayHD on cable, we watched and re-watched our favorite productions many times: She Loves Me and Kinky Boots. She Loves Me has been a musical for ages, but when Kinky Boots hit Broadway in 2013 it simply soared. I watched and re-watched the production numerous times. I love this 2017 review of the live production: Uplifting, sad, funny, full of energy, poignant, and totally entertaining. The acting, choreography, and singing are all fabulous. This is a “must-see”!
Both the audience and the critics recognized the importance of Kinky Boots: “The production earned a season-high 13 nominations and 6 Tony wins, including Best Musical, Best Actor for Billy Porter and Best Score for Lauper in her first outing as a Broadway songwriter, making her the first woman to win alone in that category.” Wikipedia
“It has been argued that Kinky Boots has added to the public discourse of gender, and its flexibility and fluidity. The prevalence of drag culture in mainstream media has introduced a step of separation between femininity and being female.” Wikipedia. We like to think it’s about people just trying to get by. Lola is a performer/entertainer just trying to get by in London. Charlie Price rescues her when she is being assaulted.
Peg and I saw the Tacoma Musical Playhouse version with eight family members, and we all sat in the front row. All were delighted. Founder, Managing Artistic Director, and Choreographer Jon Douglas Rake introduced the show, which is based on a true story: “Charlie Price has suddenly inherited his father’s shoe factory, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. Trying to live up to his father’s legacy and save his family business, Charlie finds inspiration in Lola. A fabulous entertainer in need of some sturdy stiletto boots, Lola turns out to be the one person who can help Charlie become the man he’s meant to be. As they work to turn the factory around, this unlikely pair finds that they have more in common than they ever dreamed possible.
The show takes off running. Co-Set Designers Dennis Kurtz, Erik Furuheim, and Jon Douglas Rake worked with Lighting Designer John Chenault to give us a factory setting that easily shifted when needed to a little more fancy stage. Jon Douglas Rake and Christina Naficy worked as co-choreographers.
We see the factory workers, including Charlie and his father, and then we switch to wishful thinking, with The Most Beautiful Thing, which includes a young Charlie (Tyler Weston) and the young Lola (Zander Campbell-Shreiner). The audience loved Campbell-Shreiner as he dances in his red high heels; they are not nearly as high as those worn by the grown up Lola. He did an impressive job.
Our family took up every seat in the center front row, except for two. Two granddaughters read the program before the opening and shared their favorite actors and parts from previous productions. After the musical we gathered on our deck for dinner.
The entire show had great moments. In 2021, we treated my sister Deedee to All Shook Up at TMP. She loves Elvis and that musical featured Elvis songs and an Elvis character played by Jorden Melin. Melin plays the grown up Charlie in Kinky Boots. He has a nice voice and an easy manner. Charlie in Kinky Boots is a dream role for him.
Playing the part of Lola was Chandler T. Thomas. He has performed at Seattle’s Fifth Avenue and the Village Theatre in Issaquah. Like Jorden, he sees his performance in Kinky Boots as a dream role. My two favorite songs in the entire production are the lively Sex Is In The Heel, performed by Lola (Thomas) and the ensemble, as well as the heart breaking I’m Not My Father’s Son sung by Melin and Chandler. Peg and I will be returning with friends to see this show in two weeks. For me it comes down to those two Cyndi Lauper treasures.
Lola’s Angels are Araquin Boome, Jesse Geray, Drake Hedrick, Anton Johnson, Jr., Corey Thompson and Haunz Stroschein (Dance Captain). Lola’s Angels danced in high heels . . . and I mean HIGH heels. There were a few wobbles in the beginning but they all gained confidence as the show went on. In one sequence two of the Angels did the splits and one lost a shoe. The Angel reached over, picked it up and pitched it behind the curtain, all without missing a beat.
Another favorite scene was between Don (Erik Furuheim), a manly man from the shoe factory, and Lola, the designer of the boots. When Charlie hears that Don and Lola are going to put on gloves and box, Charlie fears for Don. He explains to the others that Lola was professionally trained as a boxer by her prizefighter dad. The fight scene is well choreographed. Erik performed in The Producers and The Full Monty, and in one of our absolute favorite productions ever, A Year with Frog and Toad.
We enjoyed seeing a number of familiar faces. Cori Deverse played Lauren who falls in love with Charlie. I loved her solo number, The History of Wrong Guys, and the mostly female workers singing What a Women Wants. Lauren was in Disenchanted earlier this season. I had seen her as Lucy at CenterStage in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. We were thrilled to see Lanita Hudson Walters in Kinky Boots, but were sorry she didn’t have a solo to sing. She has a great voice.
The grand plan for Charlie and Lola is to introduce their own product line of sexy boots in Milan at a trade show that could capture the interests of both men and women. The reprise of Sex Is In the Heel is a stirring and excellent number.,
When it comes time for the show in Milan, Charlie and Lola don’t connect and Charlie ends up trying to just walk in the boots without falling down. Needless to say he does but Lola comes out and rescues the opening. Priceless. I must mention Kathy Kluska who’s the Milan show backstage organizer. I’ve never seen a more distaining and completely underwhelmed charactor.
Co-Choreographer Christina Naficy worked well with Jon Douglas Rake. She performed nicely in In The Heights as the beauty salon owner. She has performed from New York City to Seattle, Issaquah, and Tacoma. She is one of those top drawer dancers, who can dance in almost any situation. Great timing and movement.
A massive standing ovation broke out at the conclusion. We heard nothing but great comments as people left their seats. As I mentioned earlier, our family took up most of the front row. It took us a while to get out of the theatre as people chatted and laughed and revealed their favorite moments of Kinky Boots as they walked up the aisles.
Kinky Boots runs through the 31st.
Order your tickets here – tmp.org/index.php/2021-2022-tmp-mainstage-single-tickets/
Why are these two people still allowed to write reviews (which aren’t even actual reviews?)
The real reason to see this show is Chandler Thomas, probably the greatest actor to grace any TMP production. He gives a Broadway caliber performance and was all anyone could talk about. This is a truly gifted individual. You won’t be able to look away but Peg and Don barely touch on him.
There were a few other solid performances (Cori Deverse is great!) but others that were beyond pitchy. It was an ambitious choice of a production and soul-stirring, but can the Suburban Time please hire someone to write reviews who gets the names write, proof reads their entries, doesn’t bore us with where they sat or the fact that they sat on their deck afterwards, and actually gives an honest review of the plays?
Joe, The Suburban Times is not a traditional newspaper. We don’t have reporters, photographers, or editors. Think of The Suburban Times as a digital version of a community bulletin board. I keep the bulletin board clean and functioning. It is up to the community to tack the fliers to the board. So, the content is either submitted by members of the community or is aggregated by me (Ben Sclair) from public sources. If you would like to submit a review of a play or movie or restaurant or something you are interested in and share it with The Suburban Times readers, I’d be happy to make that happen.