Kinky Boots previews- Page 2

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/3/13 at 10:55pm

The fiancee had pretty much nothing to do the entire show...

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/3/13 at 10:55pm

Marlothom,

The second issue still definitely remains. The fiancee has such a small and insignificant role that I don't know why she is still in the show. Stark's character could function just as well if he tried to move to London and make it on his own, only to realize his place was back at the factory. It would give him more of a journey as he never wanted to go to London in the first place.

I wouldn't say that Stark becomes a "factory dictator." He just becomes frustrated that things are running over budget and picks some arguments with the factory workers- or as one of my friends whispered, "fake conflict/ballad set-up."

Stark's big act two ballad is so American Idol in nature too; I didn't like it, and worse could barely make out too many lyrics.

[CukorLover]

Posted: 3/3/13 at 10:58pm

Hey Whizzer, thanks for your as usual, fleshed out review. Whether you like or dislike a production, your commentary is always coherent and well thought out. While never sophomoric gushing or unqualified pans, your reviews are always very insightful !

[Marlothom]

Posted: 3/3/13 at 10:59pm

If you go back to my review of the preview in Chicago, that was my thought exactly, Whizzer - that the fiancee being cut would make Stark a stronger leading man. Does she still say "upward mobile" at random parts of the show?

[CapnHook]

Posted: 3/3/13 at 11:07pm

Yes, the show did remind me of FULL MONTY + LA CAGE + BILLY ELLIOT. But I didn't mind that. Taking the show into consideration of itself only, I loved it.

It's not perfect. It's not innovative. It's just a great time with a great message. When I leave a show and had a good time, or was moved, ultimately that's all that matters.

There were imperfections in the score and book, but nothing significant. If anything, I'd trim some 5-10 mins from Act 1.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/3/13 at 11:08pm

Thanks CukorLover, and I agree that Stark would be much stronger without the fiancee. Annaleigh can still be afraid to approach him- maybe he's too caught up trying to save the factory to notice her there- and we wouldn't have to suspend our disbelief SO much that a nice guy like Stark would be with a shrill, grating character like Nicola.

Also (SLIGHT SPOILER****************)

Is there anything more cliched than the "evil" let's turn this property into a bunch of condos/strip mall plot device? I mean that was the main conflict in Burlesque!

[meyerd584]

Posted: 3/3/13 at 11:30pm

I was there and ate it up. Loved every minute. The 11 o'clock number isn't even very strong but Porter's performance helped it soar.

No one has brought up the fight at intermission between the two men.
I was sitting nearby.
A man arrived late and played with his phone during the first act. The man next to him asked him to stop.

At intermission, the culprit started a fight with him. It became very loud and they were separated. Not sure where he went, but the good samaritan was upgraded to a better seat.

[After Eight]

Posted: 3/3/13 at 11:36pm

The first act was reasonably entertaining, but the minute Lola appeared as Simon, the air went out of the balloon and the fun out of the show. And when Charlie suddenly changed from nice to mean in the second act, a transformation that seemed to come out of nowhere, that really curdled the custard. Several inexplicable plot details also muddied the waters. Some of Harvey's jokes were good; there needed to be more of them.

The score was loud, lively, and humdrum. The two wailing, pull-out-the-all-the-stops "show stoppers" were akin to force feeding.

The cast was excellent, the staging at times inventive, the design appropriate.

This was one show that had a good thing going and then frittered it away.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 3/3/13 at 11:38pm

I was wondering what that ruckus was. I heard a commotion and saw everyone in the boxes staring at the middle of the orchestra, but then I saw Cyndi Lauper and though that it was just a mob of people storming her.

[meyerd584]

Posted: 3/3/13 at 11:41pm

I could only see the ladies in the box seats taking pictures of her but couldn't locate where Cyndi was!

Yea, I think it was a combination of both. The fight spilled into the aisle and one was held back while the other was pulled into the lobby, still yelling at each other.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 3/3/13 at 11:42pm

I think it's hilarious to imagine a mob of people storming Cyndi and causing a stir inside the theatre as if they were teenagers happening upon One Direction.

[Okiekat]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 12:47am

Saw the first preview Sunday night and loved it. Billy Porter is amazing. I agree "Hold Me in Your Heart" is not a great song, but Porter makes it a show stopper. I think Annaleigh Ashford is perfectly cast to sing Cyndi Lauper tunes. She's also very funny. Stark Sands is the best actor on the stage, and I enjoyed his performance. And I can't say enough about those "Angels". The second act seemed a bit weak, but overall, it was a thoroughly entertaining evening. It's the first preview and in my opinion, there are just minor things to work on. I think Jerry Mitchell has done a terrific job with this production.

I talked to someone who was one row behind the commotion at intermission and said it had to do with one guy using a cell phone.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 12:59am

It should also be mentioned that the show opens with an ensemble member entering the stage. His cell phone rings, and he carries on a conversation that acts as the "turn off your phone" speech. It was something like this: "Hey, I can't talk now. I'm going to work so I gotta turn my phone completely off." ...

[peachesr82]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:59am

Maybe they felt they couldn't cut the *SPOILER* the "evil" let's turn this property into a bunch of condos/strip mall plot device *SPOLIER END* out because that was exactly what happened with every dying factory business in these industrial towns in the UK at that time. I don't know, I haven't got over to NY to see the show yet but it is based on a true story so there's probably a limit to how much they really want to cut out or change. Maybe the reason the fiance thing is lingering and not been swapped for something better? I don't know.

Updated On: 3/4/13 at 03:59 AM

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 8:19am

peaches, The plot device was so half-baked that you wondered why it was introduced at all. It's introduced at the end of act one and never mentioned again in act two. I think they bring it up only to show that the non-existent fiancee has different priorities than our leading man, but really that was painfully clear in the first five minutes.

There is a boorish, homophobic, fat slob at the factory who stands in for M. Dindon, and just like Dindon you can bet he's going to end up in a pair of those gosh darn kinky boots by the end of the play. In fact (and this really isn't a spoiler because it was easy to guess from the start), just like Billy Elliot ended with everyone dancing around in tutus there was bound to be a grand finale with everyone dancing in boots.

Thinking about the show this morning, Kinky Boots might be more of a second rate Pippin than Billy, La Cage and Full Monty put together. Like Pippin this has a thin plot and is more of a character study as a young man comes into his own and learns what he wants out of life. Unlike Pippin though, this story is presented in a straightforward manner- the problem being that the stakes are never high enough and the conflict never real enough to actually expect a character to grow through his "ordeal." We understand how Pippin develops as he meanders through his episodic revue.

Many of the songs from Pippin could be plugged into Kinky Boots too. Stark could sing "Corner of the Sky" when he sets off to London. When he inherits the factory he never wanted to be a part of he could burst in "Extraordinary." When Stark gets discouraged in act two Porter could deliver what I'm sure would be an amazing "On the Right Track." (Can't you just hear his, "Easy baby! You're on the right track!") None of the score to Kinky Boots rivals Pippin, though I imagine the songs will play better out of context than in the show.

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 8:28am

Does anyone have a song list?

[Up In One]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 1:18pm

I was at the first preview last night and thought the show was phenomenal, musical comedy is back on Broadway, I would say Hairspray was the last true musical comedy to have left such an impression on me. After sitting through Cinderella, a mess but a mess with an enchanted heart, and Hands on a Hardbody a creative bore, it was so good to have my faith in Broadway professionals restored.

Of course it was a first preview filled with family and friends but even at half that reaction it would have been a ridiculous reception. I saw the show in Chicago on a preview Tuesday night and it got the same reaction. This is a true audience show, they grab the wave and go with it. The best part is the creatives give the audience what they want while keeping true to the "true story" I see comments above about plot devices - does not everyone remember that this is a true story? Compared to whats happening over at Hardbody where they took a documentary and fictionalized it to numbing effect Kinky Boots is genius for how it musicalized a true story.

The fiancee's role is now minus the song she had towards the end of the show. Her exit speech is now more evolved and more important to the show's themes. Her number, while good (love her voice) was one of three solos in a row that bogged down the show at a key moment. Aside from her song being cut the size of her role is pretty much the same from early previews in Chicago.

They flipped the order of Charlie's last number and Lola's last number to a much better effect. The scene which puts Charlie over the edge and sets up his song is more believable/understandable now. They have also changed and shortened the scene after Lola's song to include a very emotional gesture. Two songs in the first act have been replaced - Charlie's "I Come To The Rescue" now has a more clear "Step One" while he makes Lola's boots and Lola's second cabaret show number now has a less dark fun ditty for Lola and the Girls to sing while we see the scenes of Charlie trying to lay off the factory employees.

There were other neat adjustments: the opening number was shortened and sharpened, the finale's return of the younger Charlie and Lola was staged more effectively, over all the finale staging felt sharper now. The "Just Be" section is now introduced by both Charlie and Lola. It was a magical evening. I have never seen so many people leave a theater smiling both here and and in Chicago.

Where La Cage was your grandma's coming-out musical it was very traditional in many ways - probably the Jerry Herman/Arthur Laurents effect. Kinky Boots is Harvey unchained. Add Cyndi's spiritual creative energy which is so attuned to the LGBT world of today and Jerry's smart, sassy, high energy staging and you have a show that is so much more of its time. Her music and lyrics are a joy to listen to the house was a rockin' and heads were a boppin'.

I've kept up on this seasons' offerings and will be seeing Matilda later this week. Short of Motown surprising everyone it looks like this is going to be a Kinky Boots/Matilda battle royale.

Updated On: 3/4/13 at 01:18 PM

[CukorLover]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 1:25pm

Speaking of Hairspray, do you find the KINKY score to be just as infectious, melodic and memorable ?

[Up In One]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 1:29pm

For sure, I almost wish they had super titles over the encore so we could all sing along. People were definitely humming on their way out.

[metropolis10111]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:20pm

I saw the show late in it's Chicago run and thought it pleasant, but by no means great. Where the show got off the ground was in the drag numbers other then that it was rather bland. I remember that me and my husband left the show feeling we had see the next great unremarkable show. I'm sure it will have it's fans. I have tickets to Big Fish while it is here as well, I hope that turns out better then this

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 2:34pm

I found the score to be nowhere even close to the confection that was Hairspray. That score was period specific, tremendously infectious and also furthered plot/character development. There is nothing near Good Morning Baltimore, Welcome to the 60's, Without Love or You Can't Stop the Beat in Kinky Boots.

The problems I had with the score were the lyrics, and to a lesser degree some of the orchestrations. Most of the melodies are nice, and maybe it is appropriate the Stark Sands' songs sound like One Direction as they are current British music, but the generic lyrics really sink the songs. There's a lot of "If I dig deep down inside of me/I'll try to be all I can be" type stuff.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:15pm

Cyndi's lyrical work seems pretty un-theatrical to me (judging by her songs that I know well where she wrote her own lyrics--of course many of her early hits she didn't write, particularly the lyrics.) That works fine in pop--I like her lyrics as they are, but... (On the other hand you have groups in a similar style like Pet Shop Boys who, while admittedly their musical Closer to Heaven is a mess with an awful book, do write pop lyrics that often seem already ideal for the stage.) Still, I really am curious to hear this score--I only know the dance mix she recorded of one of her songs, I think Love is in the Heel which I found ok but pretty uninspired especially compared to the club music she did on her dance album about five years back.

But speaking of the "sound" of the production, and Whizzer's comments about One Direction--can anyone with a program tell me who orchestrated it and/or arranged it? I'm curious if they used a regular well known theatre orchestrator, or if they got a pop producer to orchestrate or at least co-orchestrate and arrange it?

[Up In One]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:20pm

Whizzer I think your being pretty dismissive of a very, very good Broadway debut, all of Lola's songs and the boxing match have hysterical very specific lyrics. The other chaacter songs are tied to plot. Annaliegh's first act showstopper is a character song that will be used as example for years to come. I think you need to give the score another listen. But if your frame of reference is Pippin, a show that needs style because there is little substance then I probably understand where you are coming from.

[eperkins]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:20pm

STEPHEN OREMUS (Music Supervisor/Arranger/Orchestrator)

Also, here's the wiki on Stephen:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Oremus

Kinky Boots Official Website Updated On: 3/4/13 at 03:20 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/4/13 at 3:29pm

Thanks! That makes sense--he's younger and has worked on some more pop style recordings besides his show work.