Adam Kaplan News

'Kinky Boots' plays at DPAC through September 18

Known as 'the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out,' The Ensemblist podcast has become the champion of the unsung performance heroes and inner workings of the theatre world. Co-created and co-hosted by Nikka Graff Lanzarote (Chicago, Women on the Verge) and Mo Brady (SMASH, The Addams Family), the podcast has covered everything from the Gypsy Robe ceremony, to the audition process, to what it's like to be a Broadway babysitter during its first three years on the air. Now, following a successful first season covering the 'Ensemblist Essentials,' this past spring, The Ensemblist is entering into its second season (check out the first episode below!) and I sat down to talk with Nikka and Mo about how the podcast has grown, what it looks like to balance careers in the arts with being podcast masters, which Broadway ensemble they'd like to join, and more-check out the full interview below!

When I saw Kinky Boots here in Chicago during its pre-Broadway tryouts, I left the theatre with a huge smile on my face. While the show does have its share of heavier moments, it is also full of so much joy. As it returns for a short run to the Oriental Theatre, I was thrilled to see it maintained the same sense of fun and sentiment that it had in 2012.

When KINKY BOOTS played Playhouse Square in April of 2015, while still running on Broadway, it was a really good performance. The show is back again and, believe it or not, it's even better this time around.

Picture it: New York City; the year, 2002. A wide-eyed, Broadway first timer awaiting her first celebrity signature after a production of 'Hairspray' felt a deep connection with the raspy-voiced actor when he looked me dead in the eye and apologized for his dry sharpie. With one 'Darling, I'm so sorry,' I felt connected to something that felt so distant to me before. I was probably the only 10-year-old at my elementary school who was a Harvey Fierstein fan (specifically for 'Mrs. Doubtfire' and 'La Cage aux Folle'). Little did I know that at that exact moment, my love for Broadway would be inextricably linked to my love for drag, so a drag production based on a book written by Harvey Fierstein should be a no-brainer. Throw in a score written by Cindy Lauper and you have a show that had far to fall for me if done incorrectly. Thankfully, 'Kinky Boots' at The 5th Avenue Theatre was as fabulous as I hoped it would be.

If it was possible to like... or rather, LOOOVE... the Broadway musical KINKY BOOTS even more so than one already does, the lovable, fresh-faced cast of the musical's current first national tour is certainly making a really good case for it. An all-around spectacular stage show in every sense of the word, the 2013 six-time Tony Award-winning Best Musical's current North American traveling company---now back in Los Angeles for an all-too brief two-week run at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood through April 24---very much lives up to its rousing, crowd-pleasing reputation thrice over. Still haven't seen this incredibly entertaining, surprisingly heartwarming show on tour yet? What are you waiting for?

Welcome to Laramie, Wyoming, home of the University of Wyoming, the only four year university in the state, and also home to The Laramie Project. I promise that we aren't homophobic bigots. (Side note: two of my professors at the university were in that movie).

On the high-heels of last season's wildly-successful L.A. Premiere, KINKY BOOTS, the smash-hit musical that brings together four-time Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein (Book) and Grammy Award-winning rock icon Cyndi Lauper (Tony Award-winner for Best Score for Kinky Boots), returns to the Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a limited two-week engagement, April 13 - 24, 2016. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from opening night below!

Following in the footsteps of La Cage Aux Folles, Billy Elliott and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, all foreign films turned into Broadway musicals, Kinky Boots, the 2013 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, brings its spirited message of 'Just Be Who You Wanna Be' in a return to the Pantages for two weeks through April 24. Replete with splashy direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell and a splendid cast, it's top.of.the.line entertainment fare.

K-Boots based the experience of a true UK shoe factory.

Kinky Boots, the smash-hit musical that brings together four-time Tony Award -winner Harvey Fierstein (Book) and Grammy Award-winning rock icon Cyndi Lauper (Tony Award -winner for Best Score for Kinky Boots), is back by popular demand!

Kinky Boots, the smash-hit musical that brings together four-time Tony® Award-winnerHarvey Fierstein (Book) and Grammy® Award-winning rock icon Cyndi Lauper (Tony Award-winner for Best Score for Kinky Boots), opens at the Marcus Center on May 31-June 5 as part of the Associated Bank Broadway at the Marcus Center series. Tickets go on sale on Friday, April 8 at 12:00 pm at the Marcus Center Box Office and can be purchased in person at 929 North Water Street, Downtown Milwaukee, by phone at 414-273-7206 or online at MarcusCenter.org or Ticketmaster.com. Group 10 or more should call Group Sales at 414-273-7121 x210 or x213.

Adam Kaplan is currently traveling the country, performing as British shoe factory owner Charlie in the national tour of Tony-winning KINKY BOOTS. We caught up with Kaplan to talk about his Broadway tour debut, fan reactions to the show, and his history with the Fox Theatre.

I have a confession to make; when the 2015-2016 Broadway Series was announced for Orlando's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, KINKY BOOTS was not one of the shows that I was most excited to see. Yeah, I knew that the show had won six Tony Awards including Best Musical; yeah, I knew that it had a positive, family-friendly message that I was excited to see on stage; and yeah, I knew that the tour cast was made up of fantastic performers, many of whom I have been a fan of for years. However, since the show opened on Broadway in 2013, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, the shiny, brightly colored costumes and the score's string of pop songs by Cyndi Lauper have always given me the sense that it was little more than a saccharine, bubble gum musical that left audiences feeling good and tapping their toes, but didn't have the emotional or creative substance that I look for in musicals of this caliber. I mean, how could it? Just look at it; based on the show's high-energy production numbers, I assumed that the show was one of those novelties that always leaves you entertained, but rarely leaves you satisfied.

The word 'kinky' doesn't usually come to mind when thinking about family-friendly entertainment. However, with the Tony-winning musical KINKY BOOTS, playing at Orlando's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts through Sunday, February 28th, that's exactly what you've got. Based on a 2005 British comedy of the same name, KINKY BOOTS tells the story of a shoe factory teetering on the brink of bankruptcy that is brought back to life when they begin making a certain style of fabulous boots.

There isn't much to say about Kinky Boots that hasn't already been said about it.  Kinky Boots is a great musical.  It has to be one of the best musicals to come through Cincinnati in some time.  It's a fun, toe-tapping, emotional roller coaster and every second is enjoyable.  It can be assumed that a musical about drag queens is going to be a good time and it really was but the surprising part is that there were so many different emotional levels to it.

Just in!  BroadwayWorld brings you brand new photos from the National Tour of Kinky Boots! Take a look at the new cast below! ? 

The KINKY BOOTS tour just celebrated its 500th performance on Saturday, January 2, 2016 in Charlotte NC. Scroll down for photos of the cast with a festive cake to mark the occasion!

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