Kinky Boots is a musical that opened on Broadway in 2013, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical and various other awards that season. The show has a book by Harvey Fierstein and songs by Cyndi Lauper. Kinky Boots is based on the 2005 British film of the same name, which was, in turn, inspired by a true story.Ferri, Josh. "Fetish Footwear, Acclaimed Film & Rockin' Broadway Musical: Explore the Many Steps of Kinky Boots", Broadway.com, March 16, 2013, accessed November 14, 2013
The original production was directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell and orchestrated by Stephen Oremus. Scenic design was by David Rockwell, costumes by Gregg Barnes, lighting by Kenneth Posner and sound by John Shivers. The cast starred Billy Porter as Lola and Stark Sands as Charlie and featured Annaleigh Ashford as Lauren.
Early in the 2013 awards season, Kinky Boots did well, receiving Drama League Award nominations for Distinguished Production of a Musical and Distinguished Performance, for both Porter and Sands, and winning for Distinguished Production. The show received nine Outer Critics Circle Award nominations, winning three, including Outstanding New Broadway Musical, Outstanding New Score and Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Porter). The musical received only two Drama Desk Award nominations, however, and only one win: Porter for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.
Kinky Boots received a season-high 13 Tony Award nominations. Matilda, which The New York Times described as the "unalloyed critical hit" of the season, received 12 nominations, 11 of them in the same categories as Kinky Boots. In addition to its critical success, Matilda had won the Drama Desk Award for outstanding musical and had set a record by winning the most Olivier Awards in history. Nevertheless, Kinky Boots won a season-high six Tonys, including Best Musical, which the press described as an upset, and Lauper's win for Best Score made her the first woman to win alone in that category. The creative team are Americans, and reviewer David Cote, an American writing in The Guardian, judged that the show's win was a case of "the balance of love going to a homegrown American musical, Kinky Boots, over the British import Matilda." Kinky Boots also won the 2013 Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting in the Broadway musical category."Artios Awards" , Casting Society of America, accessed November 20, 2013
Kinky Boots won the award for Best Musical Theater Album at the Grammy Awards in January 2014.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production Year Award Category Nominee Result 2013Drama League Award Distinguished Production of a Musical Distinguished Performance Billy Porter Stark Sands Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding New Broadway Musical Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) Harvey Fierstein Outstanding New Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway) Cyndi Lauper Outstanding Director of a Musical Jerry Mitchell Outstanding Choreographer Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical) Gregg Barnes Outstanding Actor in a Musical Billy Porter Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Daniel Stewart Sherman Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Annaleigh Ashford Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Musical Billy Porter Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Annaleigh Ashford Tony Award Best Musical Best Book of a Musical Harvey Fierstein Best Original Score Cyndi Lauper Best Actor in a Musical Billy Porter Stark Sands Best Featured Actress in a Musical Annaleigh Ashford Best Scenic Design of a Musical David Rockwell Best Costume Design of a Musical Gregg Barnes Best Lighting Design of a Musical Kenneth Posner Best Sound Design of a Musical John Shivers Best Direction of a Musical Jerry Mitchell Best Choreography Best Orchestrations Stephen Oremus Artios Award Outstanding Achievement in Casting Bernard Telsey & Justin Huff Astaire Awards Outstanding Choreographer in a Broadway Show Jerry Mitchell Outstanding Male Dancer in a Broadway Show Billy Porter Charlie Sutton 2014 Grammy Award Best Musical Theater Album
Original West End Production Year Award Category Nominee Result2015 Evening Standard Awards Best Musical Best Musical Performance Killian Donnelly 2017Laurence Olivier AwardBest New Musical Best Actor in a Musical Killian Donnelly Matt Henry Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical Amy Lennox Best Theatre Choreographer Jerry Mitchell Best Costume Design Gregg Barnes Outstanding Achievement in Music Cyndi Lauper & Stephen Oremus 2017 Grammy Award Best Musical Theater Album
Original Australian production Year Award Category Nominee Result2017Helpmann Awards Best Musical Best Music DirectionLuke Hunter Best Choreography in a MusicalJerry Mitchell Best Direction of a Musical Best Female Actor in a MusicalSophie Wright Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a MusicalTeegan Wouters Best Male Actor in a MusicalCallum Francis
Notes
External links
(archive) Kinky Boots at Tony Awards.com