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Andy Kelso Returns to Kinky Boots
Andy Kelso Returns to Kinky Boots

Andy Kelso Returns to Kinky Boots

The Broadway musical Kinky Boots, which is in the final stretch of its run at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, will see the return of actor Andy Kelso in the role of Charlie Price in the long-running show. Kelso was an original member of the Kinky Boots ensemble, graduating to the role of Charlie, which he played from January of 2014 through August of 2016, and again from August to September of 2017. Kelso will reclaim the role on January 11, 2019 and will stay with the show through its final performance on April 7, 2019.

“I am beyond excited to be dusting off my 6-inch heels and strutting them back to the Al Hirschfeld,” Kelso said. “Kinky Boots has been a monumental chapter in my life. Everyone and everything associated with it holds such a special place in my heart full of the most wonderful memories and I can’t wait to make some more!  It is truly an honor to play this role and be a part of this show’s legacy. Let’s make boots… again! ”

Kelso, who will succeed Conor Maynard, joins the previously announced Callum Francis who will assume the role of Lola. Both performers will enter the show on the same day. Francis succeeds J. Harrison Ghee who departs the show on Thursday, January 10, 2019, but who is set to return to the role again upon Francis’s departure.

Producers also recently announced that former American Football running back Tiki Barber, who played for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, will take over the role of “Don” beginning on Monday, January 21, 2019. He will play a limited run through Sunday, March 3, 2019.

Kinky Boots, which won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Musical, has a score by pop composer Cyndi Lauper and a book by playwright Harvey Fierstein. The production is directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell. In the final stretch of its hit run, producers recently announced that Kinky Boots will play its final performance on April 7, 2019. At the time of its closing, the musical will be the 25th longest-running production in Broadway history, having played 2,507 regular performances and 34 previews.

“Based on the Miramax film written by Geoff Deane & Tim Firth, Kinky Boots tells the uplifting and heartwarming tale of Charlie Price, a young man reluctantly taking over his family’s struggling shoe factory and looking for a fresh idea. Charlie meets and finds inspiration in Lola and together, they discover that it takes a good friend to make a great pair.“

Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of MusicalsThe Disney Song Encyclopedia, and The Encyclopedia of Television Theme Songs. He maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.

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