KINKY BOOTS Will Tour China This Year

Kinky Boots will embark on its first ever tour of China this summer, according to China Daily. The hit musical will play its first 31 shows in Shanghai from July 11 to August 5 in Shanghai Culture Square, before moving on to Guangzhou, Guangdong province and then Beijing.

The tour will be the same scale as the United States national tour, including the same range of cast members and props.

"Some people are concerned that Chinese audiences might find the cultural phenomenon of the drag queen strange or unacceptable," said Li Zhen, vice general manager of Chinese Dream Entertainment (CDE) Live. "But as a matter of fact, transsexual performances have always existed in the traditional art of Chinese opera, as well as contemporary shows.

"We are confident that the musical will be a hit in China," she said. It already sold 1 million yuan at the box office in its first day of ticket sales in Shanghai.

Read more on China Daily.

The winner of six 2013 Tony® Awards, including Best Musical, Kinky Boots features a Tony® Award-winning score by Cyndi Lauper, a book by Tony® Award-winner Harvey Fierstein and direction and choreography by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell. Kinky Boots tells the uplifting and heartwarming tale of Charlie Price, a young man reluctantly taking over his family's struggling shoe factory and looking for a fresh idea. Charlie meets and finds inspiration in Lola and together, they discover that it takes a good friend to make a great pair.