{"id":15708,"date":"2014-12-09T10:14:03","date_gmt":"2014-12-09T18:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=15708"},"modified":"2014-12-09T10:16:18","modified_gmt":"2014-12-09T18:16:18","slug":"kinky-boots-is-feel-good-glitzy-musical-about-tolerance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/kinky-boots-is-feel-good-glitzy-musical-about-tolerance\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Kinky Boots\u2019 is feel-good, glitzy musical about tolerance"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Woody’s [rating: 4]<\/span><\/p>\n

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Touring company appears to enjoy \u201cKinky Boots\u201d as much as the audience. Photo by Matthew Murphy.<\/p>\n

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Kyle Taylor Parker (right) and Steven Booth star in \u201cKinky Books.\u201d Photo by Matthew Murphy.<\/p>\n
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High-steppin\u2019 cast of \u201cKinky Boots\u201d works hard at SHN Orpheum Theatre. Photo by Matthew Murphy.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

When it comes to worshipping at the altar of pop-rock singer-composer Cyndi Lauper, I\u2019m a late latecomer.<\/p>\n

At the height of her popularity in the 1980s, I wasn\u2019t particularly taken with her voice, her compositions or her rebel-punk image.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t even enthralled with her first big hit, \u201cGirls Just Want to Have Fun,\u201d a feminist anthem she reconstructed from Robert Hazard\u2019s original male anthem.<\/p>\n

But, then, I\u2019m a boy.<\/p>\n

However, when my wife and I saw Lauper perform at the Black & White Ball, the symphony\u2019s fundraiser, on the streets of San Francisco in 2012, we became fans.<\/p>\n

And now, having gone to the SHN Orpheum Theatre to hear the LGBT activist\u2019s latest tunes in \u201cKinky Boots,\u201d which won six 2013 Tonys (including best original musical), our delayed adoration has grown even more.<\/p>\n

Others obviously share the attraction.<\/p>\n

Those who hand out the Tonys, for example. They gave her one for writing last year\u2019s best original score, making her the first woman to win that honor solo.<\/p>\n

The 61-year-old also won a Grammy for this year\u2019s album of the show.<\/p>\n

The musical, an upbeat two-hour-plus toe-tapper overflowing with humor, proves that \u2014 contrary to Nancy Sinatra\u2019s chartbuster \u2014 some boots are made for dancing rather than walking.<\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019re hesitant about a show that spotlights a flowing white gown on a man \u2014 plus numerous high heels, sequins, feathers and cross-dressers \u2014 you\u2019re apt to enjoy this one.<\/p>\n

Especially its poignant everyman ballads that mirror difficult relationships between parents and offspring.<\/p>\n

The main theme is acceptance of differences (and getting past stereotypes and bias, despite the show being filled with stereotypes and clich\u00e9s)\u00a0 \u2014 and finding forgiveness.<\/p>\n

In San Francisco, where the opening night audience was about 90 percent un-straight, those notions drew mammoth applause and cheers.<\/p>\n

Our seats, in fact, happened to be surrounded by drag queens in full regalia, including glitter, whiteface, battery-lighted fuzzy hats and, naturally, high boots.<\/p>\n

They made me think that, although the local run is scheduled to end Dec. 28, the musical potentially could sell out in the Bay Area forever.<\/p>\n

Its mass appeal may have exceptions, though. Like the four elderly ladies sitting in the rear with dour expressions opening night that may have indicated they\u2019d bought tickets to the wrong show.<\/p>\n

The predictable storyline of \u201cKinky Boots,\u201d based on the 2005 British film with the same title, has Charlie Price, a young Northampton owner of a failing shoe factory, getting help from Lola, a transvestite cabaret star.<\/p>\n

They start producing tall high-heeled boots aimed for cross-dressers, so they must appeal to a wearer\u2019s feminine side while supporting a man\u2019s weight.<\/p>\n

Kyle Taylor Parker is astounding as Lola, evoking sympathy and compassion while singing in multiple registers, and Steven Booth displays passion, vulnerability and power in the role of Charlie.<\/p>\n

Although Parker\u2019s diva rendition of\u00a0 \u201cHold Me in Your Heart,\u201d is a showstopper, so is a comedic number, \u201cThe History of Wrong Guys,\u201d performed by Lindsay Nicole Chambers as Lauren, an assembly worker with a crush on Charlie.<\/p>\n

The raucous \u201cSex Is in the Heel,\u201d featuring Lola and six backups, The Angels, also is a major crowd-pleaser.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody Say Yeah\u201d is yet another winner. It\u2019s a gospel-like rocker highlighted by performers dancing, sitting and reclining on a moving \u2014 and separated \u2014 assembly line.<\/p>\n

But the song that touched my heart and sensibilities the most was a tender duet between Lola and Charlie, \u201cNot My Father\u2019s Son.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lauper\u2019s lyrics, by the way, are inspirational spirit-boosters \u2014 for drag queens, heterosexuals and virtually anyone with a heartbeat.<\/p>\n

They can encapsulate significance in a few words.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cYou can\u2019t move on if you\u2019re still in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cThere\u2019s a roomful of people who need to feel normal \u2014 comparatively speaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cYou\u2019re in my fantasy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book by Harvey Fierstein is alternately funny and sensitive, albeit a tad preachy.<\/p>\n

Jerry Mitchell deserves plaudits, too, for his direction and vigorous choreography \u2014 including a distinctive slo-mo boxing ring scene.<\/p>\n

Still, \u201cKinky Boots\u201d isn\u2019t for everyone.<\/p>\n

Those uncomfortable with not hearing every lyric enunciated perfectly, or having to decipher a makeshift English accent, or with in the company of transvestites or others different from themselves are advised to stay home.<\/p>\n

For the rest, it\u2019s pretty much a guaranteed evening of good feelings, glitz \u2018n\u2019 glamor.<\/p>\n

\u201cKinky Boots\u201d will play at the SHN Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco, through Dec. 28. <\/em>Night performances Tuesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m. Matinees, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m.; Special performance, Friday, Dec. 26 at 2 p.m. Tickets: $75 to $300 (subject to change). Information: (888) 746-1799 or shnsf.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Woody’s [rating: 4] When it comes to worshipping at the altar of pop-rock singer-composer Cyndi Lauper, I\u2019m a late latecomer. At the height of her popularity in the 1980s, I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15708","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"