If you're a fan of musical theatre, you have reason to celebrate in 2019. That's because two professional, Broadway-style musical tours are visiting Greater Sudbury in the early spring.
“Rock of Ages” plays at the Sudbury Community Arena March 20 as part of a 10th anniversary tour of Canada and the U.S. (the show also plays in Sault Ste. Marie March 19 and Thunder Bay April 30 and May 1).
“Kinky Boots” plays at the Sudbury Community Arena April 23, also as part of a tour of Canada and the U.S. (the Sudbury show is the production's only stop in Northern Ontario).
“These are professional Broadway-style touring shows with four semi trucks full of props and sets,” said Ralph Schmidtke, managing director of Quatro Entertainment, which is partnering with True North Touring to put on the shows.
“This is not a small high school production of 'Kinky Boots' or 'Rock of Ages.' Go out and take somebody. Go have a good time. 'Kinky Boots' is almost like a dance party within a musical. On the flip side you'll have 'Rock of Ages,' which is an 80s rock show with a story. I don't think you can go wrong with both.”
“Rock of Ages” captures the iconic era that was the big bad 1980s Hollywood. Know What Love Is, Feel the Noise, and Take Your Best Shot at one of the Sunset Strip’s last epic venues, a place where the legendary Stacee Jaxx returns to the stage and rock-n-roll dreamers line up to turn their fantasies into reality, said press material for the show.
Featuring the music of hit bands such as Styx, Poison, Twisted Sister, and Whitesnake among many others, this 10th anniversary production features a dynamic new cast revisiting the larger than life characters and exhilarating story that turned “Rock of Ages” into a global phenomenon.
“It's a lot of fun,” Schmidtke said.
“I think that one is going to really be of interest to people who lived through the era in the '80s.”
“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.
“It's a fantastic story, and the music and how it's presented is awesome,” Schmidtke said.
“It's a real fun night. It's one of those shows that you'd want to go see again. It's kind of why it's been playing on Broadway in the west end of London for multiple years.”
Tickets for both productions are on sale through the Sudbury Arena box office. “Rock of Ages” tickets range in price from $59 to $99 and Kinky Boots tickets range in price from $59 to $128.75.
@heidi_ulrichsen
