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Friday, September 09, 2022
Star of Moonlight's 'Kinky Boots' says he hopes the upbeat musical open people's minds, hearts
The San Diego Union-Tribune: It’s no overstatement to say that Terry LaVell, who plays the drag queen Lola in Moonlight Stage Productions’ upcoming “Kinky Boots,” is an internationally renowned performer.
2 comments:
Keen
said...
Let me start by saying: Don't get me wrong, I love Kinky Boots and it has been an instrumental part of my journey with gender. Now let me say, Kinky Boots is so goddamn weird in that it is SO pro-gender nonconformity and somehow also SO transphobic? Make it make sense. Also, in the words of Thomas W. Douglas himself, Kinky Boots is "not Cyndi's best work." That 100% cracked everyone up in the rehearsal hall this summer. And he's right! Some of these lyrics are just...eugh. I also see a lot of debate with the "Ladies, gentlemen, and those who have yet to make up their minds" line. A lot of people saw it as deeply binary: Here are ladies, here are gentlemen, and those are the only two options. But I saw it as "One option is ladies, one option is gentlemen, and then there is a plethora of others for you to pick." Maybe it's different for me, hearing it for the first time in 2022 instead of 2014. People will read it how they want, but I felt seen by it.
This article is about Terry LaVell’s experience playing one of the leads in Kinky Boots out in San Diego. Although I had never seen this musical or even had any knowledge of it prior to reading this article, I didn’t know it was such an impactful show. I also had never really thought about the impact actually playing a character could have on the person playing them. The show is about an old english shoe making company facing closure as it is passed into the ownership of a 20year old who decides to turn the company into a shoe company for cross dressers. LaVell plays the role of Lola, a drag queen, in the show. “LaVell said he loves the musical’s positive and inclusive message, and he likes how Lola — whose offstage name is Simon, a heterosexual boxing enthusiast — defies stereotypes”. This quote really highlights the positive message being portrayed in the show, and could urge others to watch.
2 comments:
Let me start by saying: Don't get me wrong, I love Kinky Boots and it has been an instrumental part of my journey with gender. Now let me say, Kinky Boots is so goddamn weird in that it is SO pro-gender nonconformity and somehow also SO transphobic? Make it make sense. Also, in the words of Thomas W. Douglas himself, Kinky Boots is "not Cyndi's best work." That 100% cracked everyone up in the rehearsal hall this summer. And he's right! Some of these lyrics are just...eugh. I also see a lot of debate with the "Ladies, gentlemen, and those who have yet to make up their minds" line. A lot of people saw it as deeply binary: Here are ladies, here are gentlemen, and those are the only two options. But I saw it as "One option is ladies, one option is gentlemen, and then there is a plethora of others for you to pick." Maybe it's different for me, hearing it for the first time in 2022 instead of 2014. People will read it how they want, but I felt seen by it.
This article is about Terry LaVell’s experience playing one of the leads in Kinky Boots out in San Diego. Although I had never seen this musical or even had any knowledge of it prior to reading this article, I didn’t know it was such an impactful show. I also had never really thought about the impact actually playing a character could have on the person playing them. The show is about an old english shoe making company facing closure as it is passed into the ownership of a 20year old who decides to turn the company into a shoe company for cross dressers. LaVell plays the role of Lola, a drag queen, in the show. “LaVell said he loves the musical’s positive and inclusive message, and he likes how Lola — whose offstage name is Simon, a heterosexual boxing enthusiast — defies stereotypes”. This quote really highlights the positive message being portrayed in the show, and could urge others to watch.
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