Everybody's Talking About Kinky Boots- Page 3

[Theater'sBestFriend]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 9:47am

"Bring on the OCR"

It is here (link below).
EW Kinky Boots OCR

[Theater'sBestFriend]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 10:06am

"Kinky was endlessly... entertaining"

I think it is -- and extremely smart, too. For me, it touches on how gay people have contributed to society, and society is finally starting to give them equality. It's exactly what the Supreme Court, and every state debating marriage equality, is struggling with right now. It's very topical, just like earlier musicals that dealt with race were. I believe that's a big part of why the show is resonating with people. It's partly about gays, but much more about being decent and learning not to fear differences.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 10:31am

Lord knows I don't want to be the After Eight of this thread, but DOES Kinky Boots really: "touch on how gay people have contributed to society, and [how] society is finally starting to give them equality"? Especially when not one character onstage is acknowledged to be gay?

Speaking as one of the gay-marrieds (dreadful term) myself, I wish the show were MORE forthright in saying here's Lola, a gay man in fabulous drag, who himself gets a love story to call his own, and here's how society benefits from the Lolas of the world.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 11:55am

I certainly think it's a gay friendly show but no, I don't think it hits on gay rights and all that goes along with it.

Personally I don't find that to be a fault. I think the ambiguity works well - when you want to reach everyone with the message. It doesn't matter if you are gay or not gay or straight or not straight or traditional or different..the message is the same. It's just saying to accept everyone for who they are..and that in turn makes life better for everyone.

[John Adams]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 12:05pm

>> Lord knows I don't want to be the After Eight of this thread, but DOES Kinky Boots really: "touch on how gay people have contributed to society, and [how] society is finally starting to give them equality"? Especially when not one character onstage is acknowledged to be gay?"

I'm totally with you on that question! But for a slightly different reason.

If anything, I think one of the show's faults is that its themes of acceptance are "old news". The biggest one being that reasonable people (like Charlie) will make reasonable choices when given reasonable exposure and educational experiences.

Is the message, "we're the same, Charlie boy, you and me..." such a revelation given these characters in this setting?

In 2013, reasonable people have already discovered that moral.
Gallup Poll Regarding Acceptance of Gay Relationships Updated On: 5/21/13 at 12:05 PM

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 1:58pm

And yet - in May 2013 in relatively liberal NYC, over the weekend some young man was killed in a hate attack just because he was gay.

So while the message has been around for a long time and may be old news for some, it would seem that it needs repeating over and over again - for those that don't hear it yet.

And if it could be repeated in a way that KB does - in a sort of joyful way that perhaps touches someone's heart and soul in a way that was not touched before, I am all for it and why I think so many people do as well.

[newintown]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 2:05pm

I'm not sure I see the relevance of the comparison, since, as has been noted by many, none of the characters in Kinky Boots is explicitly gay.

[BrerBear]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 2:15pm

Another "gay-married" here. (Boy, it does sound awkward saying that.)

I agree wholeheartedly with what SomeoneInATree and John Adams said. I've made it clear that I didn't like the KB music, and I thought the story was preachy and predictable. But that's not exactly uncommon for a Broadway show.

The thing that irked me in particular about KB is that it seemed like taking a step back. I was reminded that "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" is now almost twenty years old. And "Hedwig" is more than ten. Both of those movies / shows dealt with drag and acceptance in a way that was uplifting without making the drag queens sexless. KB felt like a Disney version of drag, where any complication or dirtiness was washed away to make drag and gayness marketable. Didn't feel like progress.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 2:22pm

Does a musical have to accomplish "progress" in order to be good?

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 2:28pm

Hear, hear, BrerBear!

PJ-- very good point. But a show being hailed as a triumph for its celebration of those outside the mainstream shouldn't be RE-gressive, should it?

[BrerBear]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 2:29pm

"Does a musical have to accomplish "progress" in order to be good?"
Of course not. But I don't think it gets credit for pushing forward gay rights, as some in this thread are giving it credit for.

[John Adams]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 3:22pm

>> "Does a musical have to accomplish "progress" in order to be good?"
Of course not. But I don't think it gets credit for pushing forward gay rights, as some in this thread are giving it credit for.

^^ Exactly!

Also, because it's Tony season, I want to be EXTRA clear that just because I don't feel Kinky Boots should win Best Score or Best Musical this season, that doesn't mean I don't think it's good. It's clearly very good and many will have an extremely enjoyable evening at the theater!


...it's just not "as good" as the "M-show-that-shall-not-be-named" here...

>DOH!< Updated On: 5/21/13 at 03:22 PM

[newintown]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 3:33pm

I do find it interesting that the vocal clique that really, really, really wants Kinky Boots to sweep the Tonys keeps creating threads about how Kinky Boots is so much better than Matilda and how everyone, simply everyone, prefers it to Matilda.

It's a very Fox News kind of strategy...

[John Adams]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 3:38pm

>> "It's a very Fox News kind of strategy..."

Or it could be that the KB fans believe as strongly I do about something different.

Ironically, the theme of KB is respecting differences - something FOX News doesn't understand... at all. Updated On: 5/21/13 at 03:38 PM

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 3:51pm

I happen to love both shows equally! I think they're both great for different reasons. I honestly don't know who I'll be rooting for at the Tony's this year!

[John Adams]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 3:56pm

^^
I think for the first time in my long, Gay, non-sportsman life, I'm beginning to understand the rivalry between Sox and Cubs fans.

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 6/2/13 at 10:14am

Has anybody seen the show lately? I remember reading on here a while back that some of the angels were phoning it in. On another note, have any of the understudies gone on yet?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/2/13 at 10:33am

I cannot imagine that this early in the run anyone is "calling it in -- especially at Tony Time. However, I have not been there recently, and I realize anything is possible.

[jaxandmci]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 9:27am

I saw it for the third time this past Saturday and the cast seemed to have even more energy than before the Tony noms (although I didn't think that could be possible). An understudy was on for one of the Angels and they were still a tour de force. Maybe she had called it in . . . her sick notice?

The show was still stopped several times with extended applause for Porter and Sands, and the entire audience was on its feet with the last note of the finale. There's lots of love at the Hirschfeld.

[Patash]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 9:29am

I'm still bummed out by all the negativity HERE about the show when it was in previews. Made me not care and I avoided seeing it. Now can't get discount tickets at all. What a turn around here of opinions!

[massofmen]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 9:42am

people are sheep.

[gchris11]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 10:58am

Patash, I have been a fan since seeing it in previews the first week. I have seen it 2 times since. Love the changes. Nothing but love for the show. You should always see a show, then form your own opinion. I agree with massofmen, "People are sheep".

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 11:51am

Me too...I have seen it three times and each time the cast was amazing and the audience went nuts. I saw the last dress rehearsal, opening night and then again, in mid May. So I too saw the changes as they were adapted.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 12:15pm

I don't remember a LOT of negativity - just a lot of "meh". and remember, its likely that those that see it early/in previews are more likely to be fussier/more critical.

I don't think it was great, but I enjoyed it. Talk hasn't changed my opinion on that. (Mind you, I didn't think Matilda was "all that" either.)

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 12:33pm

I saw it in Chicago and it was okay. A lot better than Big Fish, but nothing I'd rave about or consider extraordinary in any significant way.