UNIVERSITY PARK — The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State will present the Troika Entertainment production of “Kinky Boots,” the smash-hit musical that brings together the talents of four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein and Grammy Award-winning rock icon Cyndi Lauper, for two performances at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in Eisenhower Auditorium.
The winner of six 2013 Tonys, including Best Musical, “Kinky Boots” features a Tony-winning score by Lauper, a book by Fierstein, and direction and choreography by Tony winner Jerry Mitchell.
Inspired by true events, “Kinky Boots” takes audiences from a gentlemen’s shoe factory in Northampton, England, to the glamorous catwalks of Milan, Italy. Charlie Price is struggling to live up to his father’s expectations and continue the family business of Price & Son. With the factory’s future hanging in the balance, help arrives in the unlikely but spectacular form of Lola, a fabulous performer in need of some sturdy new stilettos.
“Kinky Boots” continues playing on stages around the globe and is represented with a Broadway production in its sixth year, a London production in its fourth year (having won the 2016 Olivier Award for Best Musical), a United Kingdom tour, a North American tour in its fifth year and a Japanese production returning to Tokyo and Osaka for a second season this spring.
Section one and two tickets—$68 and $59 for an adult, $50 and $41 for a University Park student, and $51 and $42 for a person 18 and younger—are available online at www.cpa.psu.edu or by phone at 814-863-0255 or 800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also available at three State College locations: Eisenhower Auditorium, Penn State Downtown Theatre Center and the Bryce Jordan Center.
Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring a visiting artist or artists, is offered one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders. Artistic Viewpoints regularly fills to capacity, so seating is available on a first-arrival basis.
Previous international productions of ‘Kinky Boots’ include a German production, a Korean production that completed a third season last spring, an extended run in Toronto (winner of the Dora Award for Best Musical) and an Australian production. The Grammy-winning original Broadway cast recording of is available on Sony Masterworks Broadway.
The national tour of “Kinky Boots” is produced by Troika Entertainment. The creative team includes Tony winners David Rockwell (scenic design), Gregg Barnes (costume design), Kenneth Posner (lighting design), and John Shivers (sound design); Josh Marquette (hair design); Brian Strumwasser (make-up design); Joy Dewing Casting and Wojcik|Seay Casting (casting); DB Bonds (associate director); and Rusty Mowery (associate choreographer). “Kinky Boots” features musical supervision by Roberto Sinha, and arrangements and orchestrations by Tony and Grammy winner Stephen Oremus.
