Review: 'Kinky Boots' a Rousing Show that Highlights Our Differences, Similarities

Being yourself. Following your heart. Creating your own path. They’re themes that abound in several musicals, almost to the point that they’ve become cliche. Somehow, “Kinky Boots” manages to rise above and present those ideas in a fresh way through a man who’s trying to save his dying shoe factory and a drag queen looking to change hearts and minds.

After the death of his father, Charlie (Adam Kaplan) is stuck with a shoe factory he never wanted. Faced with mounting debt, he realizes the factory will have to close unless he can cater to a niche market. Enter Lola (J. Harrison Ghee), a drag queen with a love for sexy boots. Together, they form a partnership to create the most awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping boots for women … and men.

If the audience at Tuesday night’s performance is any indication, “Kinky Boots” will be one of the most crowd-pleasing musicals of the season, and not without reason. The show is filled with toe-tapping songs, fun choreography and great performances, although it takes a few minutes to stop seeing and hearing Lola as Frank-N-Furter from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

Speaking of the songs, “Kinky Boots” has some great ones. It’s no wonder Cyndi Lauper won a Tony for the show’s score. Opening with “The Most Beautiful Thing in the World,” the song sets the stage for what’s to come with rousing numbers and the theme of finding your own path, despite what your parents might want.

The real standouts come with “The History of Wrong Guys,” performed deliciously by Tiffany Engen. It’s an energetic, ridiculously catchy song that will make you want to buy the soundtrack just for that one tune, although you’re bound to enjoy the others. Ghee belts out the showstopping number “Hold Me in Your Heart” toward the end of the second act and provides a great emotional balance to the show, as does the first act number, “Not My Father’s Son.”

The only out of place note comes with a boxing match between Lola and her antagonizer Don. It slows the pace of the show down and while it does lead to bigger things, it feels out of place.

“Kinky Boots” gives new meaning to the phrase “walk a mile in your shoes.” It’s a show that embraces the differences in people while trying to find our common thread. Despite everything that might set us apart, we’re more alike than we realize.

“Kinky Boots” is playing now through Sept. 4 at The Oriental Theatre in Chicago. Tickets can be purchased at Broadwayinchicago.com.

Photo courtesy of Broadway in Chicago.