The Tony award-winning musical “Kinky Boots” is returning to IU for the second time as part of its North American tour. Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10 and 11, with tickets now on sale at the IU Auditorium box office and website, starting at $40 for the general public and $26 for IU students.
The musical, which is inspired by true events, follows Charlie Price (Noah Silverman), who inherits a shoe factory from his father, and Lola (Omari Collins), a drag queen in need of high heeled boots for men. In order to save his failing shoe factory, Charlie teams up with Lola to make a line of high heeled shoes for men, and along the way the two discover they’re not as different as they originally thought.
“Kinky Boots” first premiered on Broadway in 2013, starring Stark Sands as Charlie and Billy Porter as Lola. It received 13 Tony nominations and six wins, including best score with music and lyrics written by Cyndi Lauper.
Before each performance, there will be a pre-show talk led by Brenda R. Weber, IU provost professor for the Department of Gender Studies. Weber said she will discuss the development and history of the show as well as the broader themes discussed in the musical.
“There’s always this kind of interesting rupture in musical theater,” Weber said. “You’re telling a story and then suddenly people break out into song and dance. It forces open stories in interesting ways, and so I think there are a lot of musical theater productions that can actually steer people through their pleasure into thinking about ideas from a new perspective.”
Anna Keys, a sophomore studying technical theater, said they were on the lookout for shows to go see at the IU Auditorium. After hearing the synopsis of “Kinky Boots” from a friend who had seen a previous production of it, they knew they had to go see it.
“He explained the synopsis of, like, basically it’s this shoe company that was going down that gets saved by drag queens, and I just found that extremely interesting,” Keys said. “I love drag, I think it’s super fun.”
In this production of “Kinky Boots,” 2020 IU graduate Dominic Pagliaro will be returning to Bloomington in the role of Mr. Price and as part of the ensemble.
Pagliaro said his journey post-graduation was nothing like he had anticipated. He graduated during the pandemic at a time when the entire live performing industry was shut down, so he had a lot of uncertainty about where his career would go. Pagliaro ended up working as a bartender before booking his first performance job after college for Royal Caribbean Cruises, where he played an off-brand Jack Sparrow character.
Following this job, he booked an immediate replacement as a swing on the national tour of “Anastasia” in 2022, which he started just five days after getting the part. Pagliaro had to pack up his entire life in three days to head on the road for seven months, but he said there was no way he was turning down the opportunity.
“When you get the chance to follow your dreams, you gotta take it, no matter what,” Pagliaro said. “Life’s too short.”
After this tour, he performed as part of the national tour for “Pretty Woman,” which was put on by the same tour company as “Kinky Boots,” helping Pagliaro to secure his role as Mr. Price within the musical.
Pagliaro said he always dreamed of coming back to Bloomington to perform on the IU Auditorium stage.
“One of my first jobs was actually working maintenance for IU Auditorium,” Pagliaro said. “So, I was sweeping and mopping the floors and in between all the seats, just looking at the stage and being like, ‘Oh, it’d be cool to be up there one day.’”
He said he’s looking forward to performing at IU and being back in Bloomington, even if only for two days.
“I think it’s gonna be an emotional moment for me, and I’m looking forward to that,” Pagliaro said. “I try and embrace these opportunities and remind myself, this is part of the journey.”
While being a part of this musical, Pagliaro said he’s learned just how necessary art is to our society today. He believes the message of the show is even more paramount today than ever.
Pagliaro said people are divided, but this show reveals to audiences that people may not be so different after all. He said that being part of a show that champions acceptance and uplifts the drag community feels like a gift and responsibility that he is grateful for every day he gets up on stage.
“There’s a lyric in the show that says, ‘You change the world when you change your mind,’” Pagliaro said. “I think that is so poignant, and it’s something I think about every time I’m about to step up on stage. I’m like, ‘I’m about to contribute towards a story that has the power to change people’s minds and therefore change the world.’”
