I love Kinky Boots as well, even with flaws.
One of which - a big one, I feel, is the placement of "Hold Me In Your Heart" - a wonderful, emotional ballad that puts a bow on the Lola story - but it's really the wrong place for such a ballad when what the show really needs at that point is to either move forward or, perhaps, to have a more rousing 11:00 number. I think the song itself is important to the story, and I'm not sure where else it would go - but it feels like it slows down the show big time just when things need to ramp up.
I also feel that "What A Woman Wants" is a truly oddball song that doesn't quite land.
Conversely, my first exposure to the show was seeing "Everybody Say Yeah" on the Tonys, and it didn't grab me at all. But seeing the number in context (as is meant to be, of course), I think it works perfectly.
The finale in Milan is a bit too much of a deus ex machina (that's an understatement lol), but the final number is so much fun (and inspirational) that it *almost* doesn't matter. ;-)
For me, there's some added fun because when I saw the tour in Boston (my first time seeing the show), I had a former student in the ensemble who was great, but I also knew the music director - and he invited me to come back a 2nd time and sit in the pit. AND, I had a friend subbing in on the 2nd keyboard book, so I asked him if I could sit by him when he was on - which I did, and it was just such a great experience. |
