Based on a (non-musical) film -- which in turn was based on a real-life story -- Kinky Boots tells the tale of Charlie, a young man struggling to keep his father's struggling shoe factory afloat. To drum up new business, Charlie takes ideas from Lola, a drag performer he meets by chance -- and his factory begins manufacturing womens' stilettos in mens' sizes. But no matter how dire things are for the business, some of Charlie's employees have trouble with this new direction, and more specifically with the person who inspired it.
The script for this adaptation was written by Broadway veteran Harvey Fierstein. The music and lyrics, however, came from a newcomer -- 80s pop icon Cyndi Lauper. For her efforts, she became the first woman working solo to win the Tony for Best Original Score. She has created a versatile collection of music with different styles for each character. Drag queen Lola riffs on 70s disco, protagonist Charlie adheres to the classic Broadway style, and adorkable love interest Lauren (who frankly steals the show from the two male leads) gets music that Lauper herself might have sung on her breakout 80s album. There's clever wordplay, catchy melodies, and a clear effort through it all to weave in elements that could exist on the radio and not just in the theater.
However, it is a bit of an uneven road through two acts for Lauper, and definitely for Fierstein. At the top of the show, and somewhat again at the top of Act II, things are a bit slow to get going. For all the show's unusual trappings, the story is quite conventional, with the plot bricks laid too conspicuously and slowly in place. Things do get there, to be sure. By the time Lola is explaining to the factory workers that "Sex Is in the Heel," you're hooked -- with Act I's two best numbers yet to come ("The History of Wrong Guys" and "Not My Father's Son"). And the Act II finale, "Raise You Up/Just Be" is a crowd-pleasing, get up on your feet finale to a solid show.
But I suppose knowing this won the Tony automatically puts expectations on it that it can't quite fulfill. It's a great deal of fun, but it doesn't have the laugh-until-you-can't-breathe wit of The Book of Mormon, nor is it as uplifting and invigorating as the musical that should have beaten it at last year's awards: Matilda. If Kinky Boots comes to your town, then it's absolutely worth going. But I wouldn't quite lift it into the category of "can't miss." I'd give it a B+.
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