Cyndi Lauper just wants to have fun with her new Broadway production

As the Grammy Award winner began work on the exuberant “Kinky Boots,” it took her back to her childhood, where she was likely to be found listening endlessly to cast albums on a record player.

There was “There's No Business Like Show Business” and “My Fair Lady.” And “South Pacific,” of course. She remembers her grandmother coming downstairs and ripping “The King and I” off the player after one too many spins.

“My mother said I was a little odd as a kid,” says Lauper, 59. “I was alone a lot but I didn't feel alone. When I sang with those records, I'd be Julie Andrews and there was Rex Harrison sitting on my mother's bed. I was Mitzi Gaynor. I was Ezio Pinza. I think she had Mary Martin, too — I was all of them. I was pretty good until they sang duets.”

Sitting backstage at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, waiting to catch another preview of her 15-song debut as a Broadway lyricist and composer, Lauper is both nervous and humble. The little girl who listened compulsively to show tunes has now delivered her own.

“It's the closest thing to being 5,” she says.

“Kinky Boots,” which opens April 4, is based on an obscure 2005 British film about a British shoe factory on the brink of ruin that retrofits itself into a maker of fetishistic footwear for drag queens.

The musical version has a reworked story by Harvey Fierstein. It is directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, with music supervised by Stephen Oremus. All three are Tony Award winners.

“I keep telling myself how lucky am I that the first thing I do on Broadway has Harvey and Jerry and Stephen Oremus — everyone a Tony winner,” Lauper says. “C'mon, that's awesome!”

This isn't the first time the “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” singer has been asked to compose music for the stage. It took her old friend Fierstein, the book writer for “La Cage aux Folles” and “Newsies,” to lure her out.

His new story helped: Fierstein has teased out the friendship between the straight factory owner and the factory-saving transvestite who suggests the boot switch, who bond over their harsh fathers.

1|2|Next Page>>

SHARE CLOSE
Blogger		Google+
Live Journal		Plurk
Stumble Upon

Tweet

	PREVIOUS ARTICLE
	Gay media group honors CNN's Anderson Cooper

NEXT ARTICLE
Auction house claims to uncover violin from Titanic

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email

Submit