“Kinky Boots” Wows ‘Em In Chicago
“Kinky Boots,” with direction by Jerry Mitchell, music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, and book by Harvey Fierstein, has opened in Chicago. The reviews of this heading-for-Broadway musical, starring Stark Sands and Billy Porter (pictured) are excellent. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune says: ‘A warm, likable, brassy, sentimental, big-hearted and modestly scaled Broadway musical, “Kinky Boots†updates the issues of “La Cage Aux Folles,†touts acceptance and tolerance, stands behind a fresh-and-zesty Cyndi Lauper score, rolls out some mighty fine drag queens (with none of Arthur Laurents’ infamous female interlopers) and adds a dose of “Billy Elliot“-esque, Brit-style, emotional-industrial grit, only without the off-putting profanity and the raw politics. “Kinky Boots†won’t change the Broadway world but it has the Chicago tryout audience on its side right from the shoe factory’s first whir. And where Chicago goes first, New York usually follows.’
