living legend

Harvey Fierstein is one of the ‘Bros’ and kinkier than ever

 

At 70 years old, Harvey Fierstein is showing no signs of slowing down. Earlier this year, the Brooklyn native and four-time Tony Award winner released the memoir I Was Better Last Night, which quickly became a New York Times best-seller. This summer, his hit musical Kinky Boots (featuring music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper) returns to New York City, proving Fierstein still has soles with soul.

Fierstein’s book spans decades, tracing his personal and professional life from the Theatre of the Ridiculous and a role in Andy Warhol’s only play to the early years of the LGBTQ rights movement, the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, and triumphs on both stage and screen. His first Broadway appearance and writing credit, Torch Song Trilogy (recently streamlined into a two-act play and revived on Broadway starring Michael Urie), was a watershed moment for queer representation in the commercial theater.

It would be nearly two decades before Fierstein returned to the Broadway stage as Edna Turnblad in the musical adaptation of Hairspray, currently on tour starring Andrew Levitt (aka Nina West) in the role Fierstein created.

The relevancy and timelessness of Fierstein’s works fortify his staying power as one of the great theatrical storytellers of our generation. Kinky Boots, which won six Tony Awards including Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for its original star Billy Porter, delivers a message of healing and community-building as relevant today as when the show opened in 2013.

“Beyond the laughs and applause, what I’ve missed most is seeing the audience shed tears of happiness at every performance,” said Fierstein. “Kinky Boots is more than a musical. It’s a life experience.”

Based on true events and the 2005 film of the same name, the musical follows the unexpected partnership between, Charlie, a factory owner struggling to keep the family business afloat, and Lola, a drag performer enlisted to reimagine the inventory.

Harvey Fierstein, Cyndi Lauper
Honorees Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper pose with “Kinky Boots” as they are honored with Double Star Ceremony On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame, 2016. Photo by Bruce Glikas/WireImage

“There is a new determination to Fierstein’s writing, peppered as always with pedagogy and comedic sugar,” wrote critic Chris Jones of the original Broadway production. “Kinky Boots is both an idealized escape and a kind of fascinating, even a calming, reflection of the massive social change occurring on both sides of the Atlantic.”

With the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade and anti-LGBTQ legislation moving its way through state legislatures, a story of hope is needed now more than ever.

Fierstein also makes an appearance in one of the most anticipated films of the fall: Bros. Billy Eichner’s gays-play-straight romcom.

“We do them much better than they do us,” Fierstein told GQ. “I was shocked the first time I learned there were heterosexuals in show business. I thought they just built the sets.”

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