Kinky Boots tour at The Kennedy Center (review)

The Kennedy Center’s crowd-pleasing yet inconsistent production of Kinky Boots could also be called “A Tale of Two Musicals”. Show-stopping soul and R&B numbers led by the transcendent J. Harrison Ghee alternate frustratingly with cookie cutter ballads featuring struggling co-lead Adam Kaplan. It’s still an enjoyable show, but it’s a long way from reaching its true potential.

Kinky Boots opens on a struggling shoe factory in Northampton, England. Mr. Price and his employees sing “The Most Beautiful Thing in the World” a predictable ode to the joy of a well-made shoe. It’s a crowd-pleasing opening, full of energy that compensates for the slightly cloying lyrics. At the close of the opening number, Price’s young son and heir Charlie (Kaplan) prepares to set off for a new life in London with his fiancée Nicola (Charissa Hogeland). Hogeland cuts a memorable figure, maximizing her limited stage time with sharp character work and a crystal-clear soprano. Nicola wants Charlie to leave his small-town life behind and embrace a new start in big-city real estate marketing. But just as Charlie seems ready to let go, he receives terrible news.

Meanwhile, drag queen extraordinaire Lola (Ghee) casts a spell on the crowd in “Land of Lola”, a sparkly ballad that knocks the cobwebs out of the audience’s ears following the boilerplate opener. Lola’s talented posse of drag “Angels” is equally impressive. Joe Beauregard, Joseph Anthony Byrd, Sam Dowling, JP Qualters, Xavier Reyes, and Sam Rohloff form a formidable backup squad, fiercely sashaying and high-kicking their way about the stage. This group provides the show’s most enduring thrills, and it’s a shame they aren’t featured more heavily.

Faced with family tragedy, Charlie rushes back to Northampton to take stock of the failing shoe factory. After assessing the business’ dire financial straits, Charlie is determined to shut down operations and move on. That is, until a chance meeting with Lola in a London club sets an unlikely collaboration in motion. Charlie and Lola eventually seal a pact to create the world’s first couture drag boots and unveil the new line in Milan, Italy. To kick off their brazen undertaking, Charlie motivates the factory with “Step One”, a hopeful ballad full of possibility. The only problem: Kaplan’s struggled mightily to stay on beat and on pitch. He seemed frequently lost and overtaxed as he darted about the stage extolling the virtue of the new boots. Perhaps it was just an off night, or a tired throat. It doesn’t help that the spotty sound mixing makes his vocals almost unintelligible for half the song.

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Kinky Boots

closes June 10, 2016 
Details and tickets
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As if on cue, Lola and the Angels save the day with the infectious and sultry “Sex is in the Heel”, which introduces the bewildered factory workers to the world of drag. All is well again after the queens light up the stage. In the quiet moments that follow, floor worker Lauren (Tiffany Engen) makes her presence known with “The History of Wrong Guys”. If Ghee is the #1 highlight of the show, Tiffany Engen comes in at a strong #2, injecting much needed humor and self-deprecation into the overwhelmingly earnest production. Engen commands the stage with Broadway-caliber comic chops and pitch-perfect vocals. Like the Angels, it’s a shame she appears so infrequently.

The second act builds steadily toward the climactic launch of the new boot line, with a steady rhythm of highlights and lowlights. High points include an inventively choreographed boxing match between Lola’s alter ego Simon and Don (Aaron Walpole), a burly, macho factory foreman. It’s a drag-tastic spectacle that cribs from the biggest scenes in “Rocky” and “Raging Bull.”  Lola absolutely brings down the house with the soulful confessional “Hold Me in Your Heart”, delivered tearfully to Simon’s ailing father. It’s a performance reminiscent of a Beyoncé concert – all belting, gold satin, and shimmering lights.

On the flipside, various supporting cast members mail in their performances, perhaps because they have to frequently confront Cyndi Lauper’s uninspiring lyrics. Kaplan also struggles through another ballad in “Soul of a Man”. Between his strained vocals and the continued poor sound mixing, it often sounds like he’s singing out of a tin can. However, Kaplan’s strong scene work between songs certainly helps balance out his overall performance as the show builds to a close.

Kinky Boots evens out as a fun and memorable spectacle, buoyed by Ghee, the Angels, Engen, and the standout costume, hair, makeup, and lighting work. Kaplan’s struggles should improve with a bit of rest and guidance from director Jerry Mitchell, but for now he’s got some work to do. Still, Ghee’s towering performance and the Angels’ Vegas-level drag extravaganza are easily worth the price of admission.

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Kinky Boots . Book by Harvey Fierstein . Music and Lyrics by Cyndi Lauper . Directed and Choreographed by Jerry Mitchell . Featuring J. Harrison Ghee, Adam Kaplan, Aidan Passaro, Jhazz Fleming, Horace V. Rogers, Charissa Hogeland, Jim J. Bullock, Aaron Walpole, Tiffany Engen, Patty Lohr, Josh Tolle, Joe Beauregard, Joseph Anthony Byrd, Sam Dowling, JP Qualters, Xavier Reyes,  Sam Rohloff, Shawna M. Hamic, Zach Adkins, Tom Souhrada, Sam Zeller, Jennifer Noble, Ashley Moniz, Annie Edgerton, and Damien Brett . Music Arrangement and Orchestration by Stephen Oremus . Scenic Design by David Rockwell . Costume Design by Gregg Barnes . Lighting Design by Kenneth Posner . Sound Design by John Shivers . Hair Design by Josh Marquette . Make-up Design by Randy Houston Mercer . Music Direction by Ryan Fielding Garrett . Produced by Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig . Presented by the Kennedy Center . Reviewed by Ben Demers.