Wednesday was a real dessert day at the theater ― two musicals, Matilda and Kinky Boots, widely expected to be competing against each other for the top Tony Award. Matilda arrives from London weighed down with Olivier Awards and is the front runner to win over here, but I think it could be a closer race than anticipated.
Matilda is based on a Roald Dahl kid’s book about a little girl just starting school who is whip-smart and a voracious reader. Her parents are completely indifferent to her and think she should spend more time watching the telly instead of wasting it with books. Then there’s Miss Trunchbull, the dictatorial headmistress who resents Matilda’s intelligence and enjoys being mean to the children. She makes Annie’s Miss Hannigan look like a pussycat.
The set by Rob Howell is lots of giant Scrabble tiles suspended about the stage, a great visual. Four girls share the role of Matilda in a Billy Elliot-like rotation and if they are as good as 9-year-old Sophia Gennusa, whom I saw, they should have a lock on the Best Actress Tony. The kids’ ensemble was terrific, but their high-pitched voices made understanding many of the lyrics difficult. I guess I was expecting more from the show, but it will probably run for years and keep a lot of tot actors employed for a long time to come.
On the other hand, Kinky Boots was better than I was led to expect. It is based on the movie of the same name about a guy who tries to save the family shoe factory by retooling it to make boots for transvestites. Oh, just go with it. The two best things about it are the score by theater rookie Cyndi Lauper and a star turn by Billy Porter as drag queen Lola.
The show has a lot in common with La Cage aux Folles ― which it is not as good as ― and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ― which it is better than. Harvey Fierstein wrote the book and he deepens the show’s messages about the many ways to be a man and the gravitational pull between fathers and sons. OK, Kinky Boots is not a great show, but it is a genuine crowd pleaser.