KINKY BOOTS' Kevin Smith Kirkwood to Bring 'CLASSIC WHITNEY' to The Cutting Room, 3/2

KEVIN SMITH KIRKWOOD - 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 (44 East 32nd Street in New York) on Wednesday, March 2 at 7:30 PM. In CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE!, Ms. Houston comes back to earth, reincarnated in the body of Mr. Kirkwood, to deliver a full-out retrospective concert and celebration of some of her iconic live performances. Backed by a full band and three back-up singers (who also play guests including her mother Cissy Houston, brother Gary, and Bobby Brown), Mr. Kirkwood serves Whitney realness with a script that is constructed from excerpts of her live concert banter and interviews, CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE! is the ultimate Whitney tribute from the ultimate Whitney fan!

The New York Times wrote "Mr. Kirkwood is fabulous in drag!" in Off Broadway's How to Save the World and Find True Love in 90 Minutes and also hailed him as "Hilarious!" in It's Karate, Kid, The Musical! The Houston Chronicle exclaimed "Mr. Kirkwood's Trixie registers as a genuine dish- a vivacious femme fatale (with a big belting voice to boot)" and The San Francisco Chronicle raved about his "astonishing Whitney Houstion-ish star turn" in Dragapella! Starring the Kinsey Sicks!

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 by Drew 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).

Classic Whitney: Alive! will be performed at The Cutting Room (44 East 32nd Street in New York) on Wednesday, March 2 at 7:30 PM. Tickets - which are $20 in advance and $25 at the door - are available at TheCuttingRoomNYC.com. There is an additional $20 food and drink minimum. Doors open at 6:30 PM.