Kinky Boots
Cyndi Lauper (Music & Lyrics); Harvey Fierstein (Book)
City Lights Theater Company
Sometimes it just feels right to start with dessert. When a musical ends with a stage full of people of every shape, size, race, sex, and sexual orientation all dancing in stiletto-heeled boots that rise to hug their hips, it is difficult not to start there with the review’s praise. With a stage filled to the brim with voices rising harmoniously in sheer ecstasy, shoe factory workers and drag queens join in heart-pumping harmony as one community to sing, “Just be who you wanna be; never let ‘em tell you who you ought to be … Just be beautiful.”
A kaleidoscope of glittery color in costumes, wigs, and make-up flash before us as gloriously decorated, leather-covered legs march, kick, and often fly skyward, making it quite clear why Kinky Boots received thirteen Tony nominations and six awards (like Best Musical, Best Choreography, Best Costumes, Best Score, among others). The team of Cyndi Lauper (music and lyrics) and Harvey Fierstein (book)that took New York and the country by storm in 2013 now in 2023 are lucky to have their Kinky Boots open on the intimate stage of City Lights Theatre Company in a production bursting at the seams with as much – or maybe even more – joy, heart, and ecstasy as the original, big-stage version.
Please continue to Talkin’ Broadway for my entire review.
Rating: 5 E, MUST-SEE
A Theatre Eddys Best Bet Production
Kinky Boots continues through August 20, 2023, in production by City Lights Theater Company, 529 S. Second Street, San Jose. Tickets are available online at https://cltc.org
Please note: At the Thursday, July 25 and the Saturday, August 5 performances, well-fitting masks will be required of all audience members.
Photo Credit: Christian Pizzirani
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