Kinky Boots headed to Chicago?
'Honeymoon in Vegas' picks Toronto, 'Kinky Boots' eyes Chicago
by Chris Jones
The State of Illinois' new incentive program for out-of-town tryouts for Broadway shows has been attracting attention in Toronto, a city that competes aggressively with Chicago for such productions. The Toronto Globe and Mail reported last week that there is a move to create legislation that will match Chicago's program.
In the meantime, Toronto hung on to its upcoming, pre-Broadway tryout of the new Jason Robert Brown musical "Honeymoon in Vegas," even though that show is directed by the Chicago-based Gary Griffin.
According to a production source, "Kinky Boots, " a new Broadway-aimed musical with a score by Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein, is eyeing Chicago for its upcoming Broadway tryout. The musical, produced by Daryl Roth, is based on the 2005 film set in a struggling British shoe factory that gets a new life producing fetish-oriented footware.
A Broadway in Chicago spokesperson said that the legislation has helped spark a lot of interest in Chicago tryouts, but that no deal has yet been inked with "Kinky Boots," which is expected to open on Broadway during the 2012-13 season (but has not yet announced firm dates or a theater).
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Kinky Boots Were Made for Walking to Broadway; Will Chicago Be First?
by Kenneth Jones
The new musical Kinky Boots, with a score by pop singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, was seen New York City workshop presentations Jan. 19-20 in anticipation of a Broadway bow sometime in 2012-13. Broadway's Stark Sands and Billy Porter tested the material for an eager industry audience.
Daryl Roth (The Normal Heart) and Hal Luftig (Legally Blonde) are the producers behind the project based on the 2005 film comedy about a failing British shoe company that finds new hope in converting to the manufacture of fetish footwear.
"The next steps for the show are being decided," a spokesman told Playbill.com. The Chicago Tribune reported that the musical directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell (2004's La Cage aux Folles, Legally Blonde, Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can) may hot-foot it to a pre-Broadway tryout in Chicago. No official production dates have been announced.
Kinky Boots the Musical (drawn from the 2005 film) has new music and lyrics by pop superstar Lauper and libretto by Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy, La Cage aux Folles). Musical supervision and arrangements are by 2011 Tony Award winner Stephen Oremus (Wicked, 9 to 5, The Book of Mormon). Casting is by Telsey + Company.
The January workshop presentation, attended by potential investors, featured Stark Sands (American Idiot, Journey's End) as Charlie and Billy Porter (Off-Broadway's Angels in America, Broadway's Smokey Joe's Café, Miss Saigon) as vivacious drag performer Lola. The workshop cast also included Adinah Alexander, Annaleigh Ashford, Aaron Bantam, Eugene Barry-Hill, Stephen Berger, Caroline Bowman, Jim Caggiano, Paul Canaan, Celina Carvajal, Andy Kelso, Kevin Smith Kirkwood, Eric Leviton, Ellyn Marie Marsh, John Jeffrey Martin, Mike McGowan, Marcus Neville, Nathan Peck, Jen Perry, Kyle Post, Tory Ross, Daniel Sherman, Charlie Sutton and Joe Taranto.
Singer-songwriter Lauper is best known for her offbeat '80s style and such tunes as "True Colors," "Time After Time" and "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Her show will have a pop-rock sound. The 2005 source film comedy is about a drag-queen cabaret performer who helps revitalize a British shoe company by creating a line of fetish wear.
Broadway producer Roth is known for Wit, Proof, August: Osage County and many other Brodway and Off-Broadway shows, and won a 2011 Tony for producing The Normal Heart. Luftig produced Movin' Out and Legally Blonde, among others.
Geoff Deane & Tim Firth penned the screenplay of "Kinky Boots." The film was directed by Julian Jarrold. Chiwetel Ejiofor (who played vivacious drag queen Lola) was nominated for a 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. The U.K. release was in 2005; the U.S. release was in 2006. In the movie, a son inherits his dead father's dying shoe company, which produces functional footwear for which there is no market. An encounter with a drag performer changes the lives of those in the shoe business.
"The story is really about relationships," Roth previously told the Hollywood Reporter, "and I want to find the heart at the center of it."
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Stark Sands and Billy Porter-Led KINKY BOOTS Musical to Play Chicago Before Broadway?
BroadwayWorld previously reported that the musical version of KINKY BOOTS, which had a New York reading back in [January], is aiming to open on Broadway next season. Producer Daryl Roth revealed in a newsletter that the production would include the talents of Broadway veterans Stark Sands and Billy Porter. The musical features music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein. Tony-winner Jerry Mtchell will both direct and choreograph the production.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the production might make a stop in Chicago before landing on Broadway. A spokesperson for Broadway in Chicago revealed that the show is looking into playing the Windy City for its out-of-town tryout, before opening on Broadway in the 2012-13 season.
In 2008, it was announced that "Kinky Boots" was being developed as a Broadway-aimed musical by producers Daryl Rothand Hal Luftig. Producer Roth told the Hollywood Reporter that "the story is really about relationships, and I want to find the heart at the center of it."
Lauper achieved success in the mid-1980's with the release of her album She's So Unusual, and became the first female signer to have four top-five singles released from one album. She has released 11 albums and over 40 singles, and as of 2008 has sold more than 25 million records worldwide. She appeared on Broadway in the 2005 revival of The Threepenny Opera as Jenny, and recently appeared as a competitor on The Celebrity Apprentice.
"Kinky Boots" is a 2005 Golden Globe Award-nominated British-American comedy film written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth, about a traditional Northampton shoemaker, based in Earls Barton, who turns to producing fetishism footwear in order to save the failing family business and the jobs of his workers. The film is based on the story of Divine, which was featured in an episode of the BBC documentary series Trouble at the Top.
The plot centers on Charlie Price, who is trying to save the family business and travels to London to get ideas. In a chance encounter he meets sassy drag queen performer Lola, the alter ego of Simon, and sees the possible market of shoes for male transvestites. With the styling eye of Lola, Charlie leads the traditional shoe factory to design and produce numerous shoes for the catwalk in Milan, Italy.
Source
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I've never been to Chicago before. Possible roadtrip, anyone? :D
by Chris Jones
The State of Illinois' new incentive program for out-of-town tryouts for Broadway shows has been attracting attention in Toronto, a city that competes aggressively with Chicago for such productions. The Toronto Globe and Mail reported last week that there is a move to create legislation that will match Chicago's program.
In the meantime, Toronto hung on to its upcoming, pre-Broadway tryout of the new Jason Robert Brown musical "Honeymoon in Vegas," even though that show is directed by the Chicago-based Gary Griffin.
According to a production source, "Kinky Boots, " a new Broadway-aimed musical with a score by Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein, is eyeing Chicago for its upcoming Broadway tryout. The musical, produced by Daryl Roth, is based on the 2005 film set in a struggling British shoe factory that gets a new life producing fetish-oriented footware.
A Broadway in Chicago spokesperson said that the legislation has helped spark a lot of interest in Chicago tryouts, but that no deal has yet been inked with "Kinky Boots," which is expected to open on Broadway during the 2012-13 season (but has not yet announced firm dates or a theater).
Source
- - - - -
Kinky Boots Were Made for Walking to Broadway; Will Chicago Be First?
by Kenneth Jones
The new musical Kinky Boots, with a score by pop singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, was seen New York City workshop presentations Jan. 19-20 in anticipation of a Broadway bow sometime in 2012-13. Broadway's Stark Sands and Billy Porter tested the material for an eager industry audience.
Daryl Roth (The Normal Heart) and Hal Luftig (Legally Blonde) are the producers behind the project based on the 2005 film comedy about a failing British shoe company that finds new hope in converting to the manufacture of fetish footwear.
"The next steps for the show are being decided," a spokesman told Playbill.com. The Chicago Tribune reported that the musical directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell (2004's La Cage aux Folles, Legally Blonde, Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can) may hot-foot it to a pre-Broadway tryout in Chicago. No official production dates have been announced.
Kinky Boots the Musical (drawn from the 2005 film) has new music and lyrics by pop superstar Lauper and libretto by Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy, La Cage aux Folles). Musical supervision and arrangements are by 2011 Tony Award winner Stephen Oremus (Wicked, 9 to 5, The Book of Mormon). Casting is by Telsey + Company.
The January workshop presentation, attended by potential investors, featured Stark Sands (American Idiot, Journey's End) as Charlie and Billy Porter (Off-Broadway's Angels in America, Broadway's Smokey Joe's Café, Miss Saigon) as vivacious drag performer Lola. The workshop cast also included Adinah Alexander, Annaleigh Ashford, Aaron Bantam, Eugene Barry-Hill, Stephen Berger, Caroline Bowman, Jim Caggiano, Paul Canaan, Celina Carvajal, Andy Kelso, Kevin Smith Kirkwood, Eric Leviton, Ellyn Marie Marsh, John Jeffrey Martin, Mike McGowan, Marcus Neville, Nathan Peck, Jen Perry, Kyle Post, Tory Ross, Daniel Sherman, Charlie Sutton and Joe Taranto.
Singer-songwriter Lauper is best known for her offbeat '80s style and such tunes as "True Colors," "Time After Time" and "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Her show will have a pop-rock sound. The 2005 source film comedy is about a drag-queen cabaret performer who helps revitalize a British shoe company by creating a line of fetish wear.
Broadway producer Roth is known for Wit, Proof, August: Osage County and many other Brodway and Off-Broadway shows, and won a 2011 Tony for producing The Normal Heart. Luftig produced Movin' Out and Legally Blonde, among others.
Geoff Deane & Tim Firth penned the screenplay of "Kinky Boots." The film was directed by Julian Jarrold. Chiwetel Ejiofor (who played vivacious drag queen Lola) was nominated for a 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. The U.K. release was in 2005; the U.S. release was in 2006. In the movie, a son inherits his dead father's dying shoe company, which produces functional footwear for which there is no market. An encounter with a drag performer changes the lives of those in the shoe business.
"The story is really about relationships," Roth previously told the Hollywood Reporter, "and I want to find the heart at the center of it."
Source
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Stark Sands and Billy Porter-Led KINKY BOOTS Musical to Play Chicago Before Broadway?
BroadwayWorld previously reported that the musical version of KINKY BOOTS, which had a New York reading back in [January], is aiming to open on Broadway next season. Producer Daryl Roth revealed in a newsletter that the production would include the talents of Broadway veterans Stark Sands and Billy Porter. The musical features music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein. Tony-winner Jerry Mtchell will both direct and choreograph the production.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the production might make a stop in Chicago before landing on Broadway. A spokesperson for Broadway in Chicago revealed that the show is looking into playing the Windy City for its out-of-town tryout, before opening on Broadway in the 2012-13 season.
In 2008, it was announced that "Kinky Boots" was being developed as a Broadway-aimed musical by producers Daryl Rothand Hal Luftig. Producer Roth told the Hollywood Reporter that "the story is really about relationships, and I want to find the heart at the center of it."
Lauper achieved success in the mid-1980's with the release of her album She's So Unusual, and became the first female signer to have four top-five singles released from one album. She has released 11 albums and over 40 singles, and as of 2008 has sold more than 25 million records worldwide. She appeared on Broadway in the 2005 revival of The Threepenny Opera as Jenny, and recently appeared as a competitor on The Celebrity Apprentice.
"Kinky Boots" is a 2005 Golden Globe Award-nominated British-American comedy film written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth, about a traditional Northampton shoemaker, based in Earls Barton, who turns to producing fetishism footwear in order to save the failing family business and the jobs of his workers. The film is based on the story of Divine, which was featured in an episode of the BBC documentary series Trouble at the Top.
The plot centers on Charlie Price, who is trying to save the family business and travels to London to get ideas. In a chance encounter he meets sassy drag queen performer Lola, the alter ego of Simon, and sees the possible market of shoes for male transvestites. With the styling eye of Lola, Charlie leads the traditional shoe factory to design and produce numerous shoes for the catwalk in Milan, Italy.
Source
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I've never been to Chicago before. Possible roadtrip, anyone? :D