The musical “Kinky Boots,” which visits the Sudbury Arena April 23 as part of a Broadway-style tour of Canada and the U.S., will have you on your feet by the end of the show, promises one of the performers.
“We've never had an audience not get up and dance with us by the end of the show, which is really encouraging,” said Rebecca Mason-Wygal, who plays Trish, a worker in the factory that's the centre of the show.
“Kinky Boots,” based on the 2005 British film of the same name, and with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and the book by Harvey Fierstein, tells the uplifting and heartwarming tale of Charlie Price, a young man reluctantly taking over his family’s struggling shoe factory and looking for a fresh idea.
Charlie meets and finds inspiration in drag queen Lola, and together they discover that it takes a good friend to make a great pair.
“Kinky Boots” has won every major Best Musical Award and is represented around the world with the Tony Award-winning Broadway company now in its fifth year, an Olivier Award-winning production in London, an Australian production that opened in October 2016, and an upcoming production in Germany.
In a recent phone interview, Mason-Wygal said the show promotes a message of acceptance and embracing differences.
“It can be really scary to think outside of the box of what's comfortable for you,” she said.
“In our show, you get to see the lead characters and the ensemble characters really embrace people who are very, very different from each other, and by doing that they all grow as people and they all create something beautiful. That's what we're trying to impart to our audiences.”
Mason-Wygal said the Broadway production of “Kinky Boots” actually just closed earlier this month.
Regional theatre companies will probably start putting on productions of “Kinky Boots” soon, but Mason-Wygal said the touring production is true to the Broadway original.
The tour is being put on by Quatro Entertainment in partnership with True North Touring, the same companies that brought “Rock of Ages” to Sudbury as well as other Northern Ontario cities last month.
“We'll be that last iteration of the original Broadway production,” Mason-Wygal said.
“I love being able to take this show around and let other people experience that who can't come to New York and see it on Broadway. We're happy to bring it to you.”
The actress said while some might consider the subject of drag performers risque, the show is considered to be family-friendly — there's no sexual content.
Tickets to “Kinky Boots” range in price from $59 to $128.75, and are available through the Sudbury Arena Box Office.
@heidi_ulrichsen
