By Jessica Neu
A sold-out crowd of “ladies, gentlemen, and those who have yet to make up their minds” converged on Irwin’s The Lamp Theater to see Split Stage’s production of Kinky Boots. Director Laura Wurzell, music director Joy Morgan Hess, and choreographer Ashley Harmon bring the regional debut of this award-winning musical to life with the help of a remarkable cast filled with raw talent and sass.
The show tells the story of Charlie Price, who has inherited his father’s shoe factory. To save the business and his employee’s jobs, Charlie forms an unlikely partnership with cabaret performer and drag queen Lola to produce a line of high-heeled boots. In the process, Charlie and Lola discover that they are not so different after all.
Individual standout performances illuminated the Stage, but each cast member also homogenized in a way that gave this production the feeling of an all-star show, uncommon in other regional or community theater productions. Young Charlie (Wesley Scriven) and Young Lola (Tre’von Yancey) prove that there is no such thing as a bit part. Their portrayals of both main characters as young children are understated yet powerful, specifically when they reappear throughout the second Act. Charlie and Lola, as adults, are played by Gabe DeRose and Jason Shavers, respectively. DeRose’s powerful vocals combined with Shavers’ fierce, diva-driven presence make these two a theatrical match that cannot be made in a factory. Both deliver their personal struggles of finding their purpose and identity in a nuanced way that has audiences rooting for both of them to succeed throughout the show. However, we also share in their painful journey, which culminates in the emotionally entrenched song “Not My Father’s Son,” where the only thing stronger than their palpable pain is their will to succeed.
Lola is supported by her Angels, four fierce drag queens worthy of any runway in Milan. Their stage presence turned the Lamp Theater into an energetic nightclub and had the audience in boisterous cheers. The lead characters are supported by a dynamic ensemble of actors who both sing and dance with fervor and skill and a skilled band of musicians that led the show to its climactic finale full of revelry, humor, and acceptance.
Much like a pair of your favorite shoes, this show felt more broken-in and comfortable as it moved along. If Act I was a pair of Jimmy Choo’s, Act II was Manolo Blahnik’s as the cast clearly understood and heeded their paramount role in debuting the regional production of Kinky Boots.
Characters in drag and themes of racism and inclusion are common in musicals (Hairspray, La Cage Aux Folles). However, Kinky Boots brings the theme of inclusion and acceptance to another level as these are rooted in identity and the acceptance of all persons, regardless of who they are, as humans.
Shoes, something everyone wears, serve as both a metaphor but also serve a unique function in each individual’s life. Shoes can save lives and represent identity, tradition, and dreams. The cast dutifully weaves this metaphor through the show to deliver the ultimate theme of acceptance on a local stage.
While acceptance and inclusion are often preached on national platforms, the scenes in Act II represent a notion of dialogic civility or conversation that must happen locally if we as a society are ever going to see progress toward accepting all people. Shavers and DeRose, along with antagonist Don (Josh Reardon), represent the discomfort, vulnerability, and veracity resulting from this intense dialogue.
The actors carry this responsibility with grace and humility, proving what can happen when individuals come together and challenge one another to see a situation, or a person, from outside of their unconscious or conscious bias.
Split Stage’s production of Kinky Boots is more than a musical; it is a vehicle to discuss acceptance and dialogic civility on a local community level where we can make progress, one step at a time.
And never forget to “be yourself; everyone else already is taken.”
Split Stages Production of ‘Kinky Boots’ with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and book by Harvey Fierstein, at the Lamp Theatre in Irwin, now through March 11th, 2023. For tickets and more info, visit: https://www.lamptheatre.org/split-stage-productions-presents
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