Kinky Boots – Final Weekend at DSM

I loved Dallas Summer Musicals' Kinky Boots as much as those folks in the video and would love for you to take advantage of it's closing weekend at Fair Park.  Click through for my full review of the 2015 DSM opening musical, Tony-Award winning Kinky Boots.

Kinky Boots took home 6 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, showcasing a powerful and uplifting story.  Inspired by a true story the musical follows Charlie Price's (Steven Booth) reluctant inheritance of his father's shoe factory.  Lola (J. Harrison Ghee) is a fabulous drag queen who has his own struggles with his father's legacy and identity.  The befriending of these two powerful lead characters is the impetus for the factory's survival and the pair overcoming their greats fears in the process.  Along the way we the audience are treated to some of the best songs and dance numbers seen on the Music Hall stage in years. 

Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell has brought forth a powerhouse in the choreography game.  Lola and the 6 Angels showcase some of the most impressive dance sequences around and while wearing an assortment of high heels.  The sure power and precision of these dance numbers is incredibly impressive.   When I chatted with Angel and Lola understudy Darius Harper we talked extensively about the boot camp element that they all went through.

For the full interview with Darius go, here.

Jerry's superb choreography really stands out but only barely as the Tony award winning score by Cyndi Lauper hits all the right notes.  The songs are powerful in their way of showing the raw reality behind it's sentimentality.  "Not My Father's Son" and "Soul of a Man" in particular grasp the universal themes in the production.  They are honest songs about Charlie and Lola's inner struggle as they prove their merit to the looming legacies of their fathers. 

Even with all the wonderful heartfelt moments the sexy nature behind the bulk of the songs really distinguishes the musical from all others.  These drag queens command your presence and in return we are all treated to wonderfully exciting numbers.  "Land of Lola", "Sex is in the Heel" and "What a woman wants" are just riots of emotion masked in high heels and sexy dresses. 

Overall it's a production that really impressed me.  I didn't expect to feel so much empathy for Lola and Charlie.  I also didn't expect to be treated to the full stories behind characters like Lauren (Lindsay Nicole Chambers) and Don (Joe Coots).  Their tales were also fleshed out and allowed to thrive along side our two leads.  "The History of Wrong Guys" by the character Lauren stood out as something fresh and unexpectedly enjoyable.  Her changing of her feelings for Charlie is a wonderful element in the story.  Don's battle with Lola hits a high note in the great boxing sequence that is "In His Corner", but it's Don's change after the bout that really gets to the heart of the story.  People can change and thus so can the world, even if it has to be one Don at a time.  But it's the closing number that really sums it all up perfectly.

So raise on up and catch this musical before it ends this Sunday!  For tickets and more details go to DallasSummerMusicals.org.

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