Our Kinky Boots experience on Broadway, Manhattan

 

Bringing in the New Year with family and spending time with them is the best thing that one can ask for. So this year, we decided to be in New Jersey for New Years and celebrate it with our folks.  Being in New Jersey and so close to the Big Apple – aka my favourite city in the world (after Bombay ofcourse), a trip to New York City is a given; and what better than to spend the 1^st day of the New Year with the beloved in the most happening city of the globe. So Desh and I ventured out early on the 1^st of January for a ‘day in NYC’.

Braving the Drive to Manhattan

Undoubtedly it was a beautiful day, cold and windy yet so thrilling. We drove all the way from New Jersey to Manhattan despite being warned about the crazy traffic jams and even crazier crowds on Times Square. But brave as we are, we decided to drive and it turned out to be a much better decision than taking the train. We reached SOHO and found a garage to park the car. After enjoying our time there, doing a little bit touristy and romantic stuff, having coffee together to kill the cold, and some souvenir purchasing; we decided to pick up the car and head to Times Square. Boy, were we lucky or what?! Not only did we manage to find parking easily but the crowds also seemed to be decent and we did have lots of space to walk and have fun. And fun we did have, in loads of quantities. After we got our caricatures made by the caricature artists on the streets in Manhattan and bought a couple of paintings from the painters selling their paintings on Times Square we got a bit tired. It was too early for dinner but the next day we were going to head back to Atlanta and drive for over 14 hours. Tough day ahead so we decided to call it a night, head back home and have dinner there. The drive back was also an hour long. So, we started walking towards the garage when someone stopped us in the middle of the road.

Broadway Tickets Happen to Us

Apparently the guy who stopped us identified himself as a stand-up comedian and tried selling a stand-up comedy show’s tickets to us. He kept reducing his ticket prices and the woman in me who can sniff a fish from a mile, sniffed something fishy and made those big big eyes and looked at the dear husband; who was already quite sold on the idea of watching a stand-up (since he loves it). But I guess my big eyes did the trick and we excused ourselves from there. Ofcourse, while walking back I explained my reasons for making faces and nearly getting my eyeballs off the eyelids and in a minute the husband stopped in his tracks and said, “Want to go for your Broadway show?” I was like, “wow, ofcourse, but where are the tickets. And its 1^st January today, almost impossible to get tickets now, and I don’t want us to spend a bomb to get them.” That’s when I realised the glint in his eyes and saw where he was looking. There was a huge bright red lit up pillar which read ‘tickets’ of the Broadway shows and that too heavily discounted. We ran for our life to find the ticket counter and bought two tickets for Kinky Boots, which was to start in the next 10 minutes at the Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway.

We literally ran to the theatre which was a good 5 – 7 minutes away. When things have to work out they do anyhow, don’t they.  I wanted to watch a Broadway show on this NYC trip; and as they say, wanted to see one real bad!! But the tickets were way too expensive. Who wants to shell out 400 $ per ticket? I mean I love theatre and so does Desh, but then there is never a point in burning a hole in your pocket and doing something. Besides we knew we wanted to go for a Broadway show but we didn’t know which one. The name Kinky Boots did strike a chord, but to be honest we still hadn’t made up our mind.  So that time, it was almost as if someone just decided it for us on the spur of the moment, came to us and handed us the tickets (albeit for a price) for watching in a theatre which was at a stone’s throw. Ever heard of reverse Murphy’s Law?

We got to our seats just in time. They weren’t the best seats, but then who’s complaining. It was on the mezzanine and we had a decent view of the stage. And soon the lights were dimmed, there was pin drop silence, the curtains were raised, the stage came to life and the musical began. In the beginning it was tough to go with the flow, almost a wee bit boring as well. If you don’t like English music too much you won’t be able to appreciate a musical, and besides we didn’t even really know what the story-line was. In all our previous Broadway shows we knew the story beforehand and went for the show more for the experience than the story. But this one was a complete secret! But slowly and steadily the story picked up and we didn’t even realise when our tired eyes became fully glued to the stage.

Kinky Boots – Story of a Profound Musical

Kinky Boots is a marvellous musical based on a true story and a film of the same name. The musical talks about a young Brit named Charlie Price, who inherits his father’s shoe factory. At first he abandons the family business to live with his demanding girlfriend in London. But after the unexpected death of his father, Charlie returns to the struggling factory and tries to find ways to keep the business alive. Looking to save the family business, Charlie turns to a fabulously fashionable new friend – a cabaret star and a famous drag queen called Lola; who gives him an outrageous idea – to create ladies’ shoes for men, claiming that it could change both of their destinies. Soon, the factory starts churning out Kinky Boots under the supervision of Charlie and Lola. But the million dollar question is – can this hare-brained scheme really work? And can these two extremely different men find a common ground and become real friends? But soon, this unlikely duo creates the most sensational footwear that’s ever rocked the runways of Milan, giving the factory and its hardworking family a sparkling new future.

A well-fitted and well-staged toe-tapper, Kinky Boots is an exuberant story about finding friendship, inspiration and passion where you least expect. Unlike what we thought in the beginning it is a cent percent entertainer with a moral that ‘you can change the world when you change your mind.’ It was super fun and the most perfect way to start the New Year! The performances were brilliant and gave us the feeling of a grand finale before we headed the drive back home. We grabbed a quick dinner, drove back home and hit the sack; but I think my feet were tapping with the Kinky music even in deep slumber!!

Three cheers for Kinky Boots!!

 

Check out a Clip of the Musical

 

Featured Image: Charitybuzz