A glamorous entertainer looking for sturdy stilettos saves a local shoe store. No, it’s not a newspaper headline but rather the storyline for the beloved Tony Award-winning musical “Kinky Boots,” on stage at Out Front Theatre through Nov. 5.
Producing artistic director of Out Front Theatre Paul Conroy joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom to talk about the production.
Interview highlights follow below.
Based on a true story:
“The story rings pretty true to what happened in real life. It was a shoe factory in Northampton, England, and the entire town had a multitude of shoe factories, and the industry just kind of fell apart in the ’90s with imports from other countries and less expensive shoes,” Conroy explained. “These factories started to have to find ways to adapt … and this one particular factory was connected with the drag scene in London, and they realized that the drag performers were wearing footwear that just wasn’t built to support their frames. And so this shoe factory said, ‘Then we’re gonna make shoes that you can perform in, and [that] will support’ — as they say in the show — ‘support the weight of a full grown man.'”
The lovable Lola, portrayed by Wendell Scott, and other memorable characters:
“[Scott] is just a joy to watch on stage and Lola is such a presence and everyone around her is just drawn to her like a magnet. And I think that that’s how Wendell is in real life as well. It was easy for him to slip into the boots. It was a little harder for him to actually walk in the boots, he’s just a joy to watch on stage,” said Conroy.
“Charlie, the other main character, the owner of the shoe factory, he has a fiancé named Nicola, and she has always come across as just, as the ‘B’ word, and you know, as this woman who’s just domineering. And on the first day of rehearsal, I turned to the actress and said, ‘I don’t think you’re a villain. I just don’t see you in that way.’ With the relationship between Lola and Charlie, there are times that … I was saying [to Dustin Presley, playing Charlie], ‘I need you to hit this a lot harder so we can see his pain, so that we know what he’s coming from.’ And then that’s giving Wendell, who’s playing Lola, more to play off of.”
The first LGBTQ+ theater nationwide to take on “Kinky Boots”:
“It’s really important that there are stories created by and for the community that are performed in safe and brave spaces like ours first. That’s not to say that this show and other LGBTQ+ shows shouldn’t be performed everywhere; I wish more of them were produced on a regular basis. But there’s something about an authenticity, about telling a story centered around our community in a space that is specifically created for our community and allies of that community as well,” said Conroy. “I hope that people understand the weight of that. You know, we all have to have empathy. We all understand that these are universal stories, but we’re not trying to check a box. These are the stories that we produce all the time, year round.”
“I’m overusing the word, but I think it’s joy. I think that it’s happiness. It’s about coming together. It’s about seeing differences in other people and accepting those differences, and knowing that all of us are flawed, and everyone around us is flawed as well, and that’s okay. None of us is going to be perfect, as much as we strive for that perfection. As long as we can accept who we are and accept those around us for how they are, I think that’s the message. It’s shows like this, that were right on the cusp of marriage equality in this country, and the continued fight for equal rights … [that] help shift a perception into the general mainstream of that acceptance of all of those around us.”
Out Front Theatre Company is presenting “Kinky Boots,” on stage now through Nov. 5. Tickets and more information are available at outfronttheatre.com/event/kinky-boots.
