KINKY BOOTS to win the Tony over MATILDA?- Page 7

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 1:17pm

"If Matilda garners more road votes (weren't there some changes in the Tony rules regarding tour producers or something?),"

I believe the change you are thinking of in the past few years was removing critics from the Tony voting pool, leaving some to fear that the road presenters would then dominate the voting membership and only vote for the shows they feel will make a profit for them on tour.

[tazber]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 1:44pm

Every year we hear this argument about the road show presenters going for the most family oriented show.

But Spring Awakening won over Poppins and Legally Blonde (and Curtains and Grey Gardens)

And Avenue Q won over Wicked

Even last year Once beat Newsies.

I don't think this is such a valid point anymore.

[corkystclair2]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 1:45pm

I think that the current dialogue going on in the country regarding inclusiveness, gay marriage etc. helps KINKY. The heart of the story has nothing at all to do with being gay but the show sends out the message that its ok to be gay or a cross-dresser or anything else. Acceptance is a message that sells even in the South. Another key message is the story of not living up to another's expectations. Charlie and Lola's fathers in the case of the show. Finally, drag queens/cross dressers are a guilty pleasure for audiences having become stock characters of sorts in the theatre dating back centuries. KINKY will have zero trouble selling around the world.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 4:27pm

I don't think this is such a valid point anymore.

I don't think it was that valid to begin with. It was just a theory that became popular when Ragtime lost Best Musical and again when Millie won Best Musical. People have been latching onto the "tour" theory every time their favorite show of the season loses the big prize and try to sniff out a pattern in voting. The pattern is no pattern. There is no consistency.

[Up In One]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 5:07pm

Do not underestimate the power of Cyndi Lauper. Did you see the way the Tony Nominations were covered, not just across the country, but internationally? Even though Boots lead with just one nomination over Matilda the headlines were all about the victory of Cyndi Lauper's Kinky Boots. Her picture was synonymous with the nominations. You were hard pressed to find stories about Matilda or Pippin. Celebrities are flocking to Kinky Boots and their presence is being covered every day adding to its allure as a glamorous populist hit.

According to Craines the Boots box office almost doubled the two days following the nominations. Cyndi's name added to a big hit musical will be a big draw across the country. If anything, for those of you concerned about the gay theme, she has been breaking barriers and softening the ice for the show and its theme opening the doors for a whole new audience who would not have seen Priscilla or La Cage. The old marketing concept was that a show survived it first six months on New Yorkers, the next 18 months were carried by bridge and tunnel suburbanites and if a show lasted that long it had enough name recognition to draw the tourists who give hits their longevity. Boots had the NY and bridge and tunnel crowd from day one and with Cyndi's attachment and its indie British film heritage is well on its way to drawing tourists.

As far as poo pooing feelings of joy upon exiting the theater vs recognizing craft - isn't that what good theater does? Isn't joy the byproduct of a successful piece of art? Personally I wasn't depressed upon leaving Matilda, it was more a gloomy feeling. I was very excited as as student of the theater to see the staging but the after taste was not euphoric on any level. I was glad I saw an excellent show but it did not make me want to run back, that's not a bad thing.

Did not Two Gentleman of Verona win over Follies? Both of these shows are in good company and both will enjoy long runs regardless of who wins the Best Musical Tony

Updated On: 5/8/13 at 05:07 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 5:50pm

If anything, for those of you concerned about the gay theme, she is breaking barriers and softening the ice for the show and its theme opening the doors for a whole new audience who would not have seen Priscilla or La Cage.

Breaking barriers?!?! Softening the ice?!?! This is Lola, not Santa Ana. Priscilla and La Cage were just on Broadway in the last couple of years! Priscilla is STILL TOURING. We're not that far removed from don't-judge-a-drag-queen-by-her-sequins themes. The only barrier here is the drag queen's sexual orientation and that barrier remains firmly in place. There is no gay theme because there is no gay. No barriers are being broken.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 5:54pm

Drag queens have been breaking barriers in film and on stage for decades. Decades. Kinky Boots isn't breaking down a barrier. It's sashaying through a gaping hole in one.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 6:00pm

Well said UP In One. I agree with your assessment 100%.

I too don't poo poo the joy. It doesn't come by easily, it's not a fluke - somebody crafted something special that really works. It's certainly not the only criteria for sure but it's not NOTHING either.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 6:16pm

[i]They got a chance to listen and watch the kids of the show as they hung out outside the stage door. When they saw the show, they had a hard time liking the kids in the show knowing what “insufferable brats” they were in real life. They both said they were appalled at the attitudes of these little twits and how much their stage mothers let them get away with.[/i]

That is really interesting. But, to their defense, of course, they are betting bratty. They're kids. They will grow out of it. On the other hand, the kids sound like that they really need to be more grateful and gracious.

How did your sister see the kids anyway? Were they outside? And don't the doors open a hour early?

[Up In One]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 6:20pm

We're talking about the commercial ability of Kinky vs the family appeal of Matilda for the road. Some have suggested drag queens don't sell. I am suggesting the Cyndi connection and her dedication to the equality movement makes it a horse of a different color. I would say this show will have far more appeal than Priscilla (camp) or La Cage (old fashioned traditional)on the road.

[corkystclair2]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 6:43pm

I completely agree Up In One. I will eat my shorts one day if it doesn't come to pass but I do expect that 10 years from now KINKY BOOTS will have been a more successful venture worldwide (after expenses) than MATILDA.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 9:56pm

At this point, I don't really care who gets the Tony. I haven't seen Matilda, nor do I intend to, but I did see Kinky Boots and, by no stretch of the imagination, is it any kind of great musical. And come this time, six months from now, nobody else will care either. So much tempest in a teapot, to be very trite. But then, so is this furore. IMO.

[Theater'sBestFriend]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 11:24pm

"Drag queens have been breaking barriers in film and on stage for decades. Decades. Kinky Boots isn't breaking down a barrier. It's sashaying through a gaping hole in one. "

Take another look. Drag queens on stage -- like most in past generations offstage -- have always had a gender identity that is either male or female. Now, for a new generation of trans youth, it's not so black-and-white. They are increasingly embodying aspects of both genders, and refusing to be pigeonholed as simply male or female. They are "genderqueer" (there's a link about this below). THAT is what Lola is, and why Lola's sexuality is ambiguous -- being gay or straight depends on someone's gender, as well as the gender of the person to whom they're attracted. Lola is proud of this and fiercely independent, and plays with everybody's head about it in "What a Woman Wants."

It's understandable some might miss this fact, precisely because it IS so cutting edge. Don't underestimate Harvey Fierstein on this one.


The Realm between He and She Updated On: 5/8/13 at 11:24 PM

[goldenboy]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 11:25pm

I really should not be putting my 2 cents in cause it won't make much difference. I was blown away by Pippin and wish that could be best musical cause in my book ... it was!!!!

Kinky Boots was decent....great performances. The show? Not great but fine and fun. Not impressed by lyrics that say "everybody say yea. yea yea yea...ad nauseum.

But I really was annoyed by just about everything in Matilda. After fifteen minutes, I just wanted to leave. I can't even listen to that score!

So If I had to pick.. Kinky Boots.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 10:45am

It's understandable some might miss this fact, precisely because it IS so cutting edge.

They are missing that fact because it is not really conveyed in the show. And Porter already said he determined that Lola was gay, so it's not like the role has inspired or was conveyed to introduce this idea of the genderqueer generation (again, not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination). The show to me was less cutting edge than it was safely skirting the issue. All sorts of assumptions can be made about all the characters, but I did not see anything that appeared to be making a statement on genderqueer sexual ambiguity. If there is a POINT to portraying Lola as sexually ambiguous, it's not made in the text. Only in the analysis of the absence of any mention of Lola's sexuality, which can be analyzed to death from any angle to suit a variety of opinions. I don't really find that cutting edge. Just lacking in definition.

[jetts7]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 10:52am

Kinky Boots is amazing (even though I've never seen it but I can just tell), I really want Matilda to win Best Musical!

[Phillytheatreguy10]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 11:17am

Acceptance it's what's clearly illustrated and the theme of this show, be who you are- it doesn't matter who or what, just be you! That's why to me the is he/isn't he gay argument I take with a grain of salt. The actor, in this case, Porter, has made a choice, he has worked out Lola's story for himself, if he's not conveying that choice clearly, that is the real issue that we should be dabating; IMO Porter reads gay, it's just who he is and it informs his choices, if the audience is harping on whether he is/he isn't, I just don't get it. If the creator and director didn't sway him, that's also another issue we could debate- but in the end Porter has worked it out, and defined his Lola character for himself which is what any actor should always build up from when creating a character. IMO, the song, I think others are referring to, "What a Man", when he is talking about "getting women" did not suggest to me that Lola/Simon wanted to sleep with any of them, but just communicate to the audience men come in all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds and that macho doesn't trump being confident and comfortable in your skin, and when one feels as such, other areas of life get easier, the "if you can't love you, how the hell you gonna love somebody else, Rupaul, school of thought". I really think this show is deeper then people give it credit for, it flash with heart, I think some are over-simplifying it as just another gay show. Also, to the drag queen breaking barriers for years point, prejudice, hate crimes, and suicide still very much occupy the daily news, we still have a long way to go, but a show like this can help the effort. It was also, much buzzed about, even in a Playbill article, that Gregory Haney's, "Lascenica" (sp) in Bring it On, was Broadway's first trans-gender teen, that really says something about the journey of the gay culture, even in an industry supported heavily by gay patrons/artists. We're just not there yet, but Lola leading the fight is another feather in the cap! So everybody say yeah!

[dreaming]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 11:26am

God, I hope so. If only to shut Ben Brantley's self-promoting yap.

[gchris11]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 11:58am

"I can't even begin to tell you how much I despise the idea that "Best Musical" only means "Musical That Can Earn The Most Money". The award is absolutely meaningless. It's the biggest award of the night and the one that most times means nothing at all."

If it was based on which Musical makes the most money, I think "Motown would have been nominated and would win. For the record!!!

[gchris11]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 12:05pm

Okay, I have now seen both shows twice, Matilda in London and NYC (Thank you lottery) and I still hate it.
Kinky Boots early in previews and right after opening and I still liked it. IMO

Kinky all the way!!!!

[gchris11]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 12:05pm

Updated On: 5/9/13 at 12:05 PM

[jaxandmci]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 1:56pm

I just bought tickets to see Kinky Boots for the third time. I can't explain it but I've never left a show so happy and uplifted. A great score and great performances. Over the top, yes, but I found it full of heart.

Matilda, while enjoyable and seemingly perfect, kind of left me cold. Although I've been tempted to go again just to see if I warm up to it, I'm not sure a second viewing will hold my interest.

[newintown]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 2:03pm

Chacun à son goût. I left Kinky Boots thinking "well, that was certainly fun." I left Matilda feeling I'd seen something unique, special, and rare.

But I can't say that leaving a show feeling happy and uplifted is that high a priority for me. It's certainly nice, but not hard to accomplish. Updated On: 5/9/13 at 02:03 PM

[Theater'sBestFriend]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 2:31pm

"They are missing that fact because it is not really conveyed in the show."

Are you serious? You think the fact that the protagonist sometimes refers to herself as Lola and sometimes to himself as Simon, sings a big number ("What a Woman Wants") that is entirely about the intentional ambiguity of masculinity, femininity, and desire, and boasts about doing the opposite of what people want isn't in the show? Or you think it isn't about being genderqueer?

Your comments make me wonder whether you saw the show. Perhaps some folks prefer their queers to be color by number; it can feel a bit safer to know which clique is which. But Kinky Boots is about giving up your cliques. A little ambiguity and subtlety are fine by me. Apparently, a lot of other people are feeling the same, joyfully.

[Up In One]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 2:37pm

Newintown when you say "It's certainly nice, but not hard to accomplish." Are you saying you are easy? Where have you been all my life?