BWW Exclusive: KINKY BOOTS' Kevin Smith Kirkwood Picks 5 Whitney Performances That Inspire CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE!

By: Feb. 29, 2016
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Kevin Smith Kirkwood, who is now appearing on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots, is bringing CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! back to New York by popular demand. Hot on the heels of its sold-out debut at Joe's Pub last year, Kirkwood will once again channel the voice, look and spirit of the late legend Whitney Houston at The Cutting Room on Wednesday, March 2 at 7:30 PM.

In honor of the upcoming performance, Kevin took a moment to reflect on five Whitney performances that he finds have helped inspire him and his performance for the show. BroadwayWorld brings you his selections, from classics to medleys, below!

The only thing NOT fun about selecting five Whitney Houston Youtube videos that helped inspire CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! is the task of choosing only five! The show is a celebration of her brilliance live in concert, so all of my choices are just that, videos of Whitney doing her thing live. She had such musical artistry that she was able to transform her songs in concert and make them different and special every time she sang them. In Classic Whitney, we take specific live performances and do them arrangement for arrangement as a celebration of her unique live musical genius.

This first video is a medley of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody/How Will I Know" performed in 2000 at the 25th Arista Anniversary Special. Whitney had been having some personal drama in the previous years and everyone was anxious to see how the diva would perform. Obviously she silenced the doubters, pulled it together, looked amazing, and owned the stage like only she could. Notice how much fun she's having!

This next video is a performance of "The Love Medley'" (Didn't We Almost Have It All/A House Is Not A Home/Where Do Broken Hearts Go) from her 1991 Welcome Home Heroes Concert. It was a celebration of our armed forces returning home from the Gulf War. It was also Whitney's first solo televised concert. She looked stunning in red and she showed why she was on track to become one of the biggest stars in the world.
In this performance of the gospel song "Wonderful Counselor" at the 1988 American Music Awards, Whitney took to the stage with her mother, acclaimed singer Cissy Houston, and her brother Gary Houston. Whitney was raised in the church and gladly paid homage to her gospel roots, even recording the soundtrack to 'The Preacher's Wife' (which still holds the record for the best-selling gospel album of all time).

Here, Whitney performs an epic 10 minute medley of "I Love You Porgy/And I Am Telling You/I Have Nothing" at the 1994 American Music Awards. She's at the top of her game here. It's one of my absolute favorite live performances because Whitney shows her tremendous versatility, strength, power, control, and absolute diva stage presence. She also took home eight awards that night!

Of course I had to include this performance of "I Will Always Love You" at the 1994 Grammy Awards. With her opening the show a capella, hidden behind two walls that opened to reveal Whitney looking like a beautiful angel in a form fitting white dress, It's one of the most iconic performances of this song. Of course, no tribute would be complete without including this song, and CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! does not disappoint.

Kevin Smith Kirkwood made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award winning musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and earned a 2005 New York Innovative Theater Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor for It's Karate, Kid! Kirkwood can currently be seen wowing audiences in Broadway's Tony Award Winning musical Kinky Boots and stars as Roxy in the recently released feature horror film titled Condemned (written and directed by Eli Morgan Gesner and also starring Dylan Penn and Lydia Hearst).

Classic Whitney: Alive! is written by Mr. Kirkwood, directed by Ray DeMattis, with musical direction byDrew Wutke (Into the Woods/Little Fish), and features vocalists Kerry Flanagan, Ashanti J'Aria , and Will T. Travis and a few other surprise guests. Costume design is by Marcus Desion with wigs by Sabanah Styles (Kinky Boots).



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