Review: Kinky Boots Opens at the Adrienne Arsht Center
When you hear that icons Cyndi Lauper and Harvy Fierstein are collaborating on something, you know it’s time to take notice. And that something is the unforgettable Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots. More than just a musical, Kinky Boots is an uplifting love letter to the power of kindness and acceptance that – if only temporarily – revives your faith in the inherent goodness of humanity.
Based on the 2005 movie of the same name, Kinky Boots tells the story of Charlie Price (Adam Kaplan), a young man who unexpectedly finds himself running his father’s struggling shoe factory, Price & Son, after his untimely passing. After a chance encounter with a feisty drag queen named Lola (a powerhouse performance by J. Harrison Ghee), Charlie realizes that a new look, and a very new kind of clientele, may be just the shake up they need to save the shoe factory. The answer: “kinky boots,” flashy, thigh-high stiletto heels that are specifically made to support the weight of a man, or as Lola herself puts it: “two and a half feet of irresistible, tubular sex.”
At first glance Charlie and Lola are as different as can be. But as they get to know each other, the two come to realize that they may have more in common than initially meets the eye. In one of the show’s most affecting moments, Lola and Charlie sing Not My Father’s Son, in which they both try to come to terms with the fact that they didn’t turn out exactly the way their fathers dreamed they would.
And right there is one of the show’s best qualities: the pitch-perfect mix of deeply felt emotion and colorful, upbeat merriment, which is perhaps best demonstrated by the very last song of the show, Raise You Up/Just Be. Taken at face value, it’s catchy, typical Broadway fare. But when taken in as part of the show as a whole, it’s a tear-jerking, toe-tapping reminder that you can, in fact, change the world when you change your mind.
Kinky Boots will be playing at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts until December 13th, and will return for a longer run at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts from March 1-13, 2016. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.
Lauren Cohen was born and raised in Miami Beach and graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelor’s degree in Motion Pictures. She has been writing about film since 2009, with her movie reviews and features appearing regularly in Examiner.com and Miami Beach News, among others. She’s interviewed some of the most recognizable faces in the film industry, including Daniel Craig, Emma Stone, Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Javier Bardem. An avid supporter of the arts, Lauren also works with the Miami Film Festival to promote the best of world cinema to the Miami community.
