The Sex is in the Heel

I didn’t know the back of the shirt I bought said that.  I kinda like it though because I do agree that high heels are sexy.  I chose the shirt because it was a super cute v-neck with the Kinky Boots logo on the front.  I got it home, took it out of the bag, and then realized my father is going to question why the back of my shirt is talking about sex in heels (he also questioned why I was wearing a shirt that reads “It sucks to be me.” after seeing Avenue Q.  Some people just don’t get it.).

Being the super sleuths that you are, I’m sure you figured out that I went to see Kinky Boots today.  It’s Broadway Week and tickets were buy one get one free.  Payless ain’t got nothing on that (Payless, if you want to give me free shoes, I won’t complain).  Kinky Boots did two things for me tonight: 1. Made me want to buy new shoes; and 2. Get up and dance.  Now, I am a shoe person.  I love me some heels despite being 5’9 and already taller than most of the boys.  I think a great pair of shoes can change your life.  I think nothing ruins a day quicker than having on a horrible pair of shoes.  I think this show demonstrated what great shoes can do for you.  It also teaches you that you should be proud to be yourself and not judge others, but really, the shoe thing.

The dancing.  It wasn’t that the dancing was anything spectacular, it was actually pretty simple choreography, but the music was so good that I just wanted to jump on stage and join them.  Cyndi Lauper wrote it though, so I am not surprised the music was fantastic.  I just want to take a minute to comment on choreography, especially in musicals.  I don’t think choreography in musicals needs to be overly complicated to be impressive.  I was always taught that a simple step done in perfect unison is always more impressive than an difficult step done poorly.  Now, I am not saying that there wasn’t any difficult dancing in this show, because the Angels were phenomenal and incredible dancers, but there were six of them.  Six really strong dancers, or at least six really strong dancers that were given the opportunity to showcase their talents, carried most of the dancing in the show.  The last number of course demonstrated that everyone in the cast could keep a beat and do some fancy footwork, but the show really relied more on the vocals of the cast.

I think the thing that ruins a show the quickest is a weak vocalist.  There was not a single weak vocalist on this stage.  I was blown away by everyone’s singing.  Andy Kelso (also a total babe), Billy Porter, and Haven Burton (especially Haven Burton, man that girl can belt it), were sturdy leads and it is abundantly clear why Porter took home the 2013 Tony.  I don’t want to say that he stole the show because it is easy for his role to be the scene stealer (he gets the good costumes and the good songs), but he was amazing.  Andy Kelso gets to play Charlie Price, who doesn’t change out of khaki slacks until the last scene.  It isn’t difficult to be overlooked by the belting drag queen in the full on sequin getup.  Kelso was perfect though.  His character undergoes the deepest emotional development in the show, which as an actor takes talent to make believable in the 2-hour time frame provided.  I thought Kelso was a perfect Charlie and I understand why he has been cast as every hot character on Broadway in the last few years (Fiyero in Wicked and Sky in Mamma Mia).  And the say only men objectify women.

All in all, Kinky Boots was a solid show.  It was fun, entertaining, and meaningful without taking itself too seriously.  I highly recommend it to anyone who is interesting in seeing a slightly quirky, off beat, Broadway spectacle.  Oh and if you’re looking for a place to eat, I went to John’s today which, in my humble opinion, has the best pizza in NYC.