Jonas Schwartz-Owen – Theatermania
Last weekend, Wayne Brady sashayed onto the runway at the Hollywood Bowl as the iconic drag queen Lola in the Tony-winning musical Kinky Boots. His vibrant performance prevented a miscast Jake Shears from dragging the evening down.
With a score by Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein, the 2013 musical focuses on Charlie (Shears), an English lad wanting to leave his small town and the family business of shoe manufacturing behind. His father’s death and the financial woes of the business, though, force him to return and bail out a company he never cared about — and only because it would devastate the lives of his employees. A chance encounter with a towering drag queen, Lola (Brady), plants an idea that just might save the company: ladies boots made for men who like to dress like women. The closed-minded employees balk at the “humiliating” new product, but Lola’s spirit and integrity affect everyone for the better. Read more…