Billy Porter is back home in Pittsburgh for the CLO Summer show Kinky Boots. This Pittsburgh native won the Tony Award for lead actor in a musical for his starring role in Kinky Boots on Broadway. Now he has returned to his hometown to reprise the role that made him famous around the world. You can learn more at the
‘Kinky Boots’
Where: Pittsburgh CLO at the Benedum Center, Downtown.
When: 8 p.m. through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets: $40.75-$140.75; pittsburghclo.org or 412-456-6666.
"I came for the adulation," Lola says.
And as we all know, whatever Lola wants Lola gets.
Billy Porter's highly anticipated homecoming as Lola, the sensational inspirational drag queen at the heart of “Kinky Boots,” was an event that will long be remembered by anyone at the Benedum Center for the Tuesday opening. After the Tony and Grammy Award winner finished his big second-act solo, “Hold Me in Your Heart,” an audience filled with friends, family and admirers declared its intention to do just that, with a nearly five-minute standing ovation — the first such showstopper in memory.
Mr. Porter comes to the tour stop directly from Broadway, swapping with the tour’s lead for just this week during this Pittsburgh CLO presentation to bring his triumphant performance to the hometown crowd.
He gave it his all and a little extra at every turn — and the audience embraced him with loud cheers at every opportunity.
He even has a line in which Lola, dressed in a gold-and-white evening gown Diana Ross might want to borrow, tells a nursing home audience that she “grew up just a few miles from here,” which drew another long cheer from the audience.
The Tony Award-winning best musical “Kinky Boots,” adapted from the movie of the same name by Harvey Fierstein, with songs by pop star Cyndi Lauper, is a showcase for Mr. Porter to strut his stuff — in sequins, bustiers and high heels. He wears them well — his enviable legs and velvety voice are both in great shape three years into a demanding role.
The company and Mr. Porter had just four hours of rehearsal in Minneapolis to prepare, but the transition seemed to be seamless.
As Lola’s counterpart Charlie Price, Steven Booth has the role originated by Tony nominee Stark Sands. Charlie inherits a struggling Northampton shoe factory and, when he meets Lola and her drag queen friends The Angels, he alights on the idea to make footwear suitable for their particular needs — kinky boots. He leaves his fiancee and London to save the business and the jobs of his friends.
When Lola explains that “the sex is in the heel” and is offered the chance to design the boots, she practically purrs at the chance but also has to come to grips with judgmental factory workers such as burly Don (Joe Coots). Charlie has to learn acceptance, too.
Lola, the son of a boxer who was born Simon before she unleashed her inner truth, teaches the narrow-minded skeptics and traditionalists that “you change the world when you change your mind.”
Ms. Lauper spreads the song wealth around. “Soul of a Man” is a gift for Mr. Booth’s Charlie to grow in the role and for the actor to show off his singing chops. He joins Mr. Porter in the most poignant song of the show, “I’m Not My Father’s Son,” in which both men realize that they have more in common than a first glance would suggest.
Lindsay Nicole Chambers as Lauren, a savvy employee who has a crush on Charlie, gets a showcase in the comedic “The History of Wrong Guys” and channels the Broadway star Annaleigh Ashford.
“Everybody Say Yeah,” a production number that features the cast cavorting on a conveyor belt, ends the first act and helped earn director Jerry Mitchell a Tony for his energetic choreography. No chance to sparkle is spared in the over-the-top costumes by Tony nominee Gregg Barnes, whose creations for Lola and her high-stepping Angels stand out in open revolt to the industrial space and mean streets designed by David Rockwell.
The second act has conflict to spare before the show ends with the anthemic “Raise You Up/Just Be,” a catchy song that’s made for audiences to clap along.
“Kinky Boots” is based on a true story out of the UK, and there are many versions of what a Northampton accent might sound like among the cast members. Some words may be lost here and there, but nothing is lost in the translation when it comes to the message of acceptance and the intent to have a grand time with spirited pop tunes, bedazzled drag queens and endearing characters — with Lola leading the way.
On opening night, the star’s high-voltage performance supercharged an already electric atmosphere and the audience responded with proof that Pittsburgh is head over heels for Billy Porter.
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