Curtain Call

‘Kinky Boots’ at Wharton and Ixion's 'Mother's Nature'

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It's gotta be the shoes

‘Kinky Boots’ packs a powerful punch

When the musical is named “Kinky Boots,” one shouldn’t be surprised when it kicks off with a tribute to footwear. After the opening “Price & Son Theme,” the full ensemble launches into a high-energy rendition of “The Most Beautiful Thing in the World.” (Spoiler alert: The most beautiful thing in the world is a shoe.)

The shoes and boots, of course, are metaphors. For Charlie Price (Steven Booth), heir to the failing Price & Sons shoe business, the sturdy, unfashionable shoes made at the factory represent the dying of an era, as reliability is cast aside in favor of cheap thrills and disposable fashion.

His fiancee, Nicola (Grace Stockdale), pines for a pair of high-fashion heels. For her, the shoes represent an escape from smalltown life and elevation into society’s upper echelon.

For drag queen Lola (Kyle Taylor Parker), his stiletto heels represent his real self. Not a transvestite and not, as far as the play lets on, a homosexual, Lola is nonetheless most himself in the trappings of women’s clothing.

The story gets rolling when Charlie is knocked out during a run-in with some street thugs and awakens to find himself recovering in Lola’s dressing room.

Realizing that Lola is performing in women’s shoes that aren’t built to support a man’s weight, Charlie hatches a plan to save his failing factory. By combining his knowledge of shoe construction with Lola’s fashion sense, he can create a product that serves an untapped niche in the shoe market. Reliability meets fashion, old becomes new.

While Booth gets most of the meaty vocal parts — and executes them in impressive manner — Parker is the real star of the star of the show. In his opening number, “Land of Lola,” Parker exudes confidence and sexuality, evoking some mix of Diana Ross and vintage Donna Summer.

In fact, Parker is almost too good. His least convincing moments are when he uses his “natural” voice, like when he reveals his gender to unsuspecting factory worker Don (Joe Coots).

Lindsay Nicole Chambers plays Lauren, a worker at the factory who falls for Charlie despite his engagement to Nicola. Chambers only gets one solo number, but she milks the ‘80s-soaked “The History of Wrong Guys” for maximum comedic appeal.

Lola does get a show-stopper, and he makes the audience wait for it. But the payoff is worth the wait. The final notes of “Hold Me in Your Heart,” the show’s penultimate number, practically shook the brick walls of the Great Cobb Hall. And, without revealing too much, suffice to say that the brief scene that follows packs a strong emotional punch.

The show’s sound and production were solid, and the dancing was crisp and clean — even the backflips executed in 6-inch heels. Clever set design allowed the stagehands to transform a shoe factory to a cabaret in a matter of seconds. The only time the curtain comes down is to transform the set into a mod-influenced Milanese fashion show for the musical’s finale.

“Kinky Boots” is a joyful romp that transforms into a powerful story of empathy and friendship. It’s a rock ’n’ roll sermon on self-acceptance, delivered by a priest in leather boots — or, as Lola would call them, “Two and a half feet of irresistible, tubular sex.”

—Ty Forquer

“Kinky Boots”

May 27-31 7:30 p.m. Wednesday Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday Tickets starting at $34 Wharton Center

750 E. Shaw Lane (517) 432-2000, whartoncenter.com


Short and sweet

One-act plays shine at Ixion Theatre

They are like tapas, a variety of appetizers. Three short plays, tasty, unrelated — and yet somehow connected. Ixion Theatre, a young theater company full of  surprises, invited local writers to submit scripts and selected the most promising of them to present to audiences for their consideration.

“Enough is Enough” written by Terry Palczewski, focuses on helicopter parent Agatha (SaDonna Croff). Agatha is given the “gift” of a heart pain by the goddess Phoebe (Rikki Perez) to stop her from obsessing about her daughter’s life and take a minute to consider her own. Phoebe, invisible to Agatha, works through the Oracle of Delphi (Erica Beck) to convey her messages.

Beck does a great job as the intermediary in this transaction, and has some of Palczewski’s best lines. Perez is also good as an agitated, impatient goddess who clearly has more on her mind than the trivialities of a tourist looking for life’s answers in all the wrong places. Costuming plays a large part in this three person scenario. The Oracle and Phoebe are dressed in appropriate psychic garb, while Croff wears the perfect thrown-together, mismatched outfit of a lonely mother on vacation.

Next is “Generations,” written by Andrew Head, in which grandmother Sandy (Sue Chmurynsky) seems to attract tornados — nine of them in a lifetime — perhaps hoping to be swept off to Oz, but only seeing her dreary life go from one destroyed house to another. Chmurynsky, who stepped into the role late to cover for another actor, delivers a droll, deadpan delivery that suggests an unconscious hopelessness. Meanwhile, 8-yearold granddaughter Elie (Isabella Croff), is unfazed and excited by the adventure that occurs in the aftermath of a tornado. Croff displays a sense of theatrical timing unusual for a child, perhaps the result of growing up in one of Lansing’s premiere theatrical families. Rachel Wilder, as Elie’s mother, steps into the middle of this triangle, adding the frustration of a woman who cannot understand the bad luck that follows her mother’s visits.

Winding it all up, “Family Traditions” is a delightful dessert, the tastiest of the three treats. Writer O.G. Ueberreth gives us a Latin American tale exploring how a mother determines whether a man is the correct mate for her daughter. The writing sizzles here, especially as mother Abuela (Oralya Garza) delivers her well-written lines. Jacob Crosby plays the soon-to-betested Anglo named Morgan, and he gives a strong performance of a young man from a very straight-laced culture.

Give credit to director Jeff Croff for good stage direction in these three short plays. Working with a small set and few props, he manages to convey a sense of time and place. Brief, but entertaining, these plays reveal a new dimension in Lansing’s theater options.

—Tom Helma

Mother’s Nature

Ixion Theatre

8 p.m. Saturday, May 30; 7 p.m. Sunday, May 31 $15 AA Creative Corridor 1133 S. Washington Ave., Lansing (517) 775-4246, ixiontheatre.com

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