KINKY BOOTS – Book by Harvey Fierstein; Music and Lyrics by Cyndi Lauper; Directed by Jeff Duke; Music Direction by Michael Querio; Choreography by Stephanie Hansen. Produced by Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre (800 Grand Street, Grand Lake) through August 22. Tickets available at 970-629-3421 or RockyMountainRep.com
Kinky is in the eye of the beholder. While this script has “unusual” aspects, it is basically a story of friendship and acceptance. You change someone’s mind; you change the world.
A struggling shoe manufacturer looking for survival finds a “niche market” through a series of unexpected events. They become convinced that there is a need for female shoes and boots for male drag performers (“The Sex is in the Heels”). While the workers are grateful for the continuation of the work, some have trouble accepting the guidance of Lola, an outspoken drag queen, as a co-worker. Because Lola is wise beyond his years, he teaches them that glitter is a color.
Lola and her band of Angels (backup dancers) enhance the story with spectacular singing and dancing as drag entertainers. While John Harmon Cooper is not the traditional Lola, he knocks it out of the ballpark with his personality and sass. One particularly moving solo was “Hold Me in Your Heart” sung to his estranged father in his nursing home. As the son who inherited the flailing shoe factory, Mitchell Lewis presents a man torn by the demands of his employers and his disgruntled fiancé (Hanna Katz). A more understanding employee soon proves a distraction as played by Luiza Vitucci. The angels and employees of Price Shoes join together for a winning finale with “Raise You Up.” When your glitter rusts, they will raise you up!!
The complicated set calling for both inside and outside of the factory with rolling and rotating conveyor belts, nightclubs, dressing rooms, and a fashion runway was cleverly conceived by Cody Tellis Rutledge and constructed and painted by Joshua Allen and his crew. The difficult costumes were designed by Mary Nye Bennett and constructed by Kim Rollins Dometrovich and her happy band of stitchers.
The Rocky Mountain Rep 2024 season in Grand Lake is amazing and will please audiences for another couple of months. If you can get a weekend away, the short drive to Grand Lake is totally worth it. The other three shows are the charming and familiar MUSIC MAN and the Colorado premiere of the moving COME FROM AWAY about the people who were stranded for a week in Newfoundland when all the planes were grounded after 9/11. Later in September, they celebrate the music of Tony Bennett with a performance of a tribute musical called I LEFT MY HEART.
A WOW factor of 8.75