(music).
Good morning everybody and welcome to The Balancing Act.
We're so glad you joined us.
I'm Julie Moran.
And I'm Olga Villaverde.
Okay, today we're continuing our Broadway Balances America series once again going behind
the scenes of Broadway's best shows as they travel across the country.
So based on the 2005 film and inspired by a true story, Kinky Boots, right here.
It tells a story of an aspiring young business man who is forced to give up his dreams, but
ultimately forms an unlikely partnership and saves the family business.
It is a fabulous journey.
One that ultimately proves when you change your mind about someone, you can change your
world.
Mm-Hmm.
And finding true happiness comes when we embrace our individuality.
Kind of love the whole theme of this show.
It's so great.
I'm very excited to see it.
We've got a lot to talk about this morning.
We do.
Especially Kinky Boots!
The Balancing Acts starts right now.
(music).
Broadways Balances America brought to you by Broadway Across America.
Bringing the best of Broadway to a city near you.
We're once again heading to Broadway and beyond as our Broadway Balances America series takes
us behind the scenes of some of the most beloved Broadway Musicals as they travel across the
country and into your local theatres.
Today Balancing Act corespondent, Amber Milt, sits down with pop icon Cyndi Lauper - this
is going to be good - and the talented team behind Kinky Boots, the global theatrical
success that proves you can be anything you want to be.
And that sometimes the best way to fit in is to stand out.
Indeed, ladies.
This Tony and Grammy Award winning musical has not only struck a chord with audiences
every where.
It's also giving back to the community working with LGBT youth giving them an up-close and
personal look at the industry that is Broadway.
"Risen Son spent the last century making a range of shoes for men.
We will begin this century making a range of shoes for a range of men."
It's everything a Broadway production should be: entertaining, uplifting, and inspiring.
There's the 6-steps of happiness.
One, pursue the truth.
Two, learn something new.
Three, accept yourself and you'll accept others, too.
Four, let love shine.
Five, let pride be your guide.
And six, this was the kicker, you change the world when you change your mind, which you
do.
That's how the world changes.
(singing) "I'm not my father's son.
I'm not the image of what he dreamed of."
Learning acceptance is at the heart of the show which is based on the 2005 film, Kinky
Boots, and inspired by a true story of two unlikely friends who come together to save
a failing family shoe business.
Both Charlie and Lola find their strength.
They find their bliss unexpectedly, and they actually accomplish something.
Charlie saves the factory, Lola becomes a designer.
You can set a dream, and you can make it a reality.
(music) And the show became a reality when producers
Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig join forces.
We feel very proud.
We certainly feel excited about the way it's been accepted by people not only in New York
but across the country.
We've had people come up to us, emails, and mails that they've seen the show, and someone
they know saw the show, and it actually has changed their life, the way they look at the
world, or the way they accept somebody.
Because the story is so much about finding where you belong within your family, within
your community, and yourself.
(music).
It was brought to the stage by an impressive multi Tony Award winning team, with a book
by Harvey Fierstein, Direction and Choreography by Jerry Mitchell, and of course music and
lyrics by Cyndi Lauper.
Well, Harvey always says "In musicals, when there are no more words, they sing."
That's the whole thing about doing this whole Broadway thing.
I go all over the world trying to have my music heard and feel accepted, and I all I
really had to do - I get all choked up - was look in my own backyard.
The people in Broadway welcomed me with open arms, and they didn't care if I was weird.
(Singing).
Thanks to that embrace, the production and Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Fund have joined
forces to give the next generation a helping hand.
Well how does Kinky Boots incorporate that in terms of generating a new buzz with the
LGBT community?
They don't have a voice, and they really never did.
Now things are changing.
Oh my God, things are changing in the world.
It's so much better.
Today, students from the Hetrick Martin Institute, which provides support and programming for
at-risk LGBT youth and the True Colors Fund, which is working to end LGBT youth homelessness
have gathered as part of Kinky Boot's Raise You Up Community Youth Program.
All anybody wants in the world is a fair shot.
The program, which takes place in New York and across the country, allows students to
learn about and immerse themselves in the career opportunities within the theatre industry.
(Singing).
It's wonderful to be part of something that I feel like is actually making a difference
in the world.
Be proud of yourself.
You do not have to apologize.
They go to different offices that are in the theatre world.
You know, they visit the advertising agency or they'll visit the producers office.
They'll work with people on stage, and they'll really get a birds eye view of what it's like
to be involved in a Broadway production.
And so I think the kids come into it, and they feel very special.
We try to make them feel very special.
And we ask them, if we can, do you have a special area of interest?
Peaking their interest as they experience first-hand what goes into the making of an
international smash hit.
And then in the finale you'll see he wears this bowler hat, which this is actually hair
up here.
A lot of the young people are less fortunate, and will never get to see something like this,
will never get to think that they can afford a ticket, or to even imagine.
They never have a chance to know that there's something behind the scenes.
That there's acting, there's singing, there's stage-lighting, there's engineering.
(Singing).
"I may be facing the impossible.
I may be chasing after miracles."
The shows message resonates for everyone who participates.
To be yourself is so complicated.
It's just like, "be yourself."
but then people have ideas of who you are and then tell you "be yourself" when they
think you're something that's not you, and I feel like Kinky Boots is more than just
"Be who you are."
You know, it's just "Be".
As for the actor that becomes Lola eight times a week on the national tour of Kinky Boots:
So, are there characteristics of Lola that you feel like you identify with?
Absolutely.
Lola is fabulous, and brave, and really fearless.
You know?
And I've become all of those things in playing the part over the last year.
A fabulous transition that happens for Lola once she gave in to just being herself.
And can we take about those infamous boots?
The shoes are six-inch heels made for our feet.
At the beginning of the week they start pretty comfortable.
By the end of the week, your feet are swollen.
But it's so much fun just to play pretend.
Part of the original Broadway cast, Kyle says national audiences are embracing the production.
The audiences are overjoyed.
I think that it is a story that is definitely needed, and that people are ready for.
The story of acceptance no matter who you are and what you are.
People are jumping up to their feet at the end of the show and dancing.
They're laughing.
They're crying.
I mean, it really is inspiration, and I'm so proud to be apart of that.
A 5, 6, 7, 8...
(Singing).
Speaking of dancing.
Those students from the Raise You Up Program even had the chance to learn some of Jerry
Mitchell's fabulous choreography.
"Swoop it up.
Swoop it up.
Keep moving your legs - right, left..."
And that award winning score continuous to move both audiences and the actors.
Oh, sometimes you can work really hard and it doesn't happen.
This time it did, and it seemed like we were doing the right thing at the right time.
Right before I started the show, I lost my father.
We were working on my favorite song, "Hold me in Your Heart." and one day she walked
up to me and she said, "So listen.
This song isn't about being strong for your father.
It's about trying to be strong for your father."
So the song hits really close to home.
For all involved, Kinky Boots continues to be a labor of love, a heart-warming experience.
I've met a lot of young African-American men who wanted to be Broadway actors, and they
really didn't think that there was a place for them on Broadway until they saw Kinky
Boots, and saw me performing this part, and it said "You Matter".
Work hard and dream big.
When you see this, and you realize, wow...
I'm not alone.
What you realize is I'm not alone...
And there's a place that somebody can accept somebody.
There's a lot of good stuff about Kinky Boots, and a lot of glitter and glam, I like to say.
So, it's got it all.
It's got it all.
It's everything a Broadway show should be, I think.
(Singing).
"Everybody, say Yeah, Yeah.
Yeah, Yeah."
Are you ready to say "Yeah!"?
The North American tour of Kinky Boots continues coming soon to a theatre near you.
Check out BroadwayBalancesAmerica.com or go to our website, TheBalancingAct.com for all
the show information, tour dates, and more.
"Yeah!"
(audience applause).
(music).
Thanks so much for starting your day with us.
Remember to check out BroadwayBalancesAmerica.com to find out when Kinky Boots is coming to
your city.
Can't wait.
And those were some boots, weren't they?
Wooh!
Amber.
Rock it.
Where are my red boots?
God, that girl was strutting those things.
Lots more on our website, by the way, TheBalancingAct.com.
We're also on Facebook and Twitter.
Until the next time, remember...
Find your kinky boots.
Alright, so long everybody.
(laughter).
I can actually see you in these things.
(laughter).
(music).