Lindsay Nicole Chambers Has Big Boots to Fill in Kinky Boots.
“Oh, it’s crazy,” Lindsay Nicole Chambers says, her voice bubbling over with enthusiasm as she talks about life on the road. “It’s a different hotel every week and a packed schedule. The upside is you get to see so many places that you’d never have an opportunity to visit.”
One of those places is Houston, where Chambers and the other members of the Kinky Boots national tour have set up shop at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Part of the Theatre Under the Stars 2014-15 season, Boots has been a crowd-pleasing romp in its Houston run so far.
Chambers says that’s not unsual. “It’s been so well received, and it’s a great message about accepting yourself and other people. That’s such an important thing.”
Kinky Boots
Based on the British movie of the same name, which itself was inspired by a true story, the musical is a collaboration between 1980s pop sensation and Grammy Award-winner Cyndi Lauper (music and lyrics) and Broadway veteran and Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein. It’s the story of a down-on-its-luck shoe factory and its owner, Charlie, who joins forces with Lola, a London drag queen, to create custom footwear for drag queens. Along the way, the two discover how much more similar they are than different, and how changing your mind can often change your heart. The Broadway production received 13 Tony nominations for the 2013 season, winning six, including Best Musical and Best Score (for Lauper).
About Lindsay Nicole Chambers
On tour, Chambers plays Lauren, one of the factory workers, who falls in love with Charlie. Her career has taken her from touring productions (Elf, Hairspray) and regional and New York theater productions (Forbidden Broadway, All Shook Up, She Loves Me) to Broadway (Lysistrata Jones, Hairspray, Legally Blonde). She says the road to her success has been one that reminds her of how lucky she is.
“You get to know a lot of rejection in this business,” she says. “So every day, I am aware of how lucky I am, and how it was the right timing, all kinds of things that are sometimes out of your control. A lot of this business is luck, but within that, there are things you do. I tell aspiring actors, go to every audition, every acting, singing, dancing class, work hard. It’s been such a great ride.”
Life on Tour
The tour opened in Las Vegas last September, and Chambers says along the way, the cast and crew have become like family. She loves that vibe of working together, and says that a highlight of her experience was being in rehearsal and meeting Lauper and Fierstein.
“It was such a surreal experience. I was there thinking, they are such legends. God, I hope they like me. It was really cool.”
If the audience reaction is any gauge, people not only like Chambers, but the whole production. With its blend of feel-good, pop-styled song, delightfully campy choreography, easily relatable characters and a message that hits the zeitgeist of anti-bullying and universal acceptance, it’s perhaps no wonder that Kinky Boots receives standing ovations night after night.
“That’s been mind-blowing to me,” says Chambers. “It’s been such a privilege to be part of this.”
Tickets for Kinky Boots
Kinky Boots runs till Sunday, February 22, 2015 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets on TUTS.com range from $29.50 to $98.50 before ticketing fees. You may also find cheaper or better seats on TicketNetwork’s resale market.
