The evening features four of the actors who have portrayed Lola in the Tony-winning musical, including its originator, Tony winner Billy Porter, as well as J. Harrison Ghee, Alan Mingo, Jr., and Todrick Hall. The fundraiser also boasts other past and present cast members of Kinky Boots, including Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford, Stark Sands, Killian Donnelly, Andy Kelso, Taylor Louderman, Jeanna De Waal, Paul Canaan, Nathan Peck, Charlie Sutton, and Joey Tartano. The finale will include TDF Stage Doors students from New York City’s Harvey Milk High School.
Kinky Boots director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell and musical director Will Van Dyke helm the concert. The chair for the event is TDF Trustee Betsy Miller. The funds raised will provide support for TDF’s education and access programs, which make theatre accessible to more than 15,000 theatregoers each year.
“When choosing this year’s TDF honoree we realized that every TDF program has participated in Kinky Boots. We’re thrilled to honor the show’s lead producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig, the entire cast, company, producing team, management team and house staff who have been wonderful and supportive partners,” said TDF executive director Victoria Bailey in an earlier statement. “Over the years at Kinky Boots, we’ve introduced the theatre to thousands of NYC public school students through all of our education programs—Stage Doors, Open Doors and Residency Program, provided access for adults and children with low vision and hearing loss with open captioning sign language interpretation and audio description, and on May 7 our Autism Theatre Initiative will present the first autism-friendly performance of the show. Everyone involved in the production has supported our mission of making theatre accessible.”
TDF was created in the conviction that “the live theatrical arts afford a unique expression of the human condition that must be sustained and nurtured.” For more information go to tdf.org.
With a score by Cyndi Lauper and a book by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein, Kinky Boots opened April 4, 2013. The show recouped its costs in October 2013, after 30 weeks on Broadway. Kinky Boots took home six 2013 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score (Lauper), Best Choreography (Mitchell), Best Actor (Porter), Best Orchestrations (Stephen Oremus), and Best Sound Design (John Shivers). The show also received the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album.
Ticket prices for the benefit concert range $100–$2,500. There will be a VIP pre-show cocktail reception at the Broadway Lounge of the Marriott Marquis at 6 PM. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit honors.tdf.org, email events@tdf.org, or call Sara Accardi at (212) 912-9770, ext. 344.
(Updated March 20, 2017)
