When Chicagoland audiences have the chance to see a pre-Broadway world premiere, it's a rare gift that ranks as a shiny new opportunity.
And when the new stage musical is a project like "Kinky Boots," showcasing the talents of four-time Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein crafting the story for stage and Grammy and Emmy Award-winner Cyndi Lauper behind the music and lyrics, all directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell, the word "shiny" is hardly descriptive enough.
"Kinky Boots" is now playing the Bank of America Theatre, 18 West Monroe St., through Nov. 4 and press alerts already advise New York previews are set to begin on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on March 5, 2013, in advance of an April 4, 2013, opening.
The just over two-hour, with one intermission musical has style, grace, humor and fantastic music from Lauper. It just needs some work on the story and character fine tuning before it walks away from this stay in the Windy City.
It's normal that a pre-Broadway show uses a test-out run to work out the kinks.
"Kinky Boots" is based on the 2005 cult film of the same name about likeable Charlie Price, played here by Stark Sands. Raised in his family's generations-old business of making shoes, he grows up and is forced to step in and save the shoe factory in Northern England, following the sudden death of his father.
He finds help to reinvent the struggling business after meeting a drag performer with a heart of gold named Lola, played by the limitless talent that is Billy Porter, who is a joy to watch and perform. (As Lola, he loves to extend his enunciation of the word "sex" a la Marlene Dietrich for a truly funny effect.) Together, with teamwork, community and efforts are combined to face challenges and overcome obstacles.
The hour-long first act of the musical is much better, and with far more solid development, than is the shorter 45-minute Act II.
Lauper's songs are perfect and they attach themselves to the audience, with stand-outs like "The Land of Lola," "Sex is in the Heel" and "What a Woman Wants."
The costumes by Greg Barnes are incredible and Mitchell's choreography stands up to the test, quite an accomplishment since many of the tricky musical numbers are performed in heels or on factory conveyor belts, all amazingly in synch!
The problems arise in the uneven story and character development, which is choppy at times.
For no reason that I can understand, the audience is introduced to a character named Harry, played by Andy Kelso (who has a great singing voice), who appears to be his friend. Harry is even given his own song, complete with guitar moments, a terrific number called "Take What You Want." However, he disappears after the first 15 minutes, never to be seen or heard of again. It's much like the character of Charlie's girlfriend, Nicola, played by Celina Carvajal. Or is she the fiancée? Or are they married? I was never entirely clear on this. This character comes and goes, with little to do, before turning shrewish by the musical's close. At one odd moment in the second Act, she's briefly linked with a Realtor and appears to have complete access to Charlie's real estate holdings.
Also troubling is a character who works at the factory named Mrs. Bailey, played by the funny Adinah Alexander. One moment, she's completely likeable and having fun, flouncing with drag queens and smiling. Then in a seemingly bi-polar instant, she's depicted as uncaring and bigoted to the same bedazzled would-be broads she befriended a scene earlier.
But most alarming, is the drastic behavior of Charlie. He's warm and fostering to his new friend Lola in the first act, and then flips personalities by Act II, spouting the most uncharacteristic remarks of ridicule. And by the final moments, set at a fashion show in Milan, the story seems to have come unstitched. At least an added scene or two at the close are in order to resolve storylines crammed in, like Lola and a brief nursing home moment with his father or Charlie's growing interest in factory worker Lauren, played by the funny and inspiring Annaleigh Ashford. (Ashford's solo number "A History of the Wrong Guys" is a memorable hit, while Sand's solo Charlie number "The Soul of the Man" is off-balance.)
Tickets are $33-$100 at (800) 775-2000 or BroadwayInChicago.com or KinkyBootstheMusical.com.
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