Cyndi Lauper, Harvey Fierstein & Jerry Mitchell's KINKY BOOTS a Go; Pre-Broadway Tryout Set for Chicago, Oct. 2012

Producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig announced today that Kinky Boots, the new musical that brings together four-time Tony® Award-winner Harvey Fierstein (Book) and Grammy® Award-winning rock icon Cyndi Lauper (Music & Lyrics), will have its pre-Broadway world premiere in Chicago this fall. Directed and choreographed by Tony® Award-winner Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots will play the Bank of America Theatre in October 2012.

“Kinky Boots is the kind of joyous, inspirational musical that we love and are excited to share with audiences,” producers Roth and Luftig said.

In Kinky Boots, Charlie Price is forced to step in and save his family’s shoe factory in Northern England, following the sudden death of his father. Help comes from the unlikeliest angel, a fabulous drag performer named Lola. Together, this improbable duo not only revitalizes the nearly bankrupt business, but helps one another grow into the men their fathers always dreamed their sons would become and transforms an entire community through the power of acceptance.

Inspired by a true story and based on the film, Kinky Boots features a warm and witty book by Mr. Fierstein (La Cage, Torch Song Trilogy, Newsies) and a richly diverse musical score from Ms. Lauper, in her stunning theatrical debut. Mr. Mitchell (Hairspray, La Cage, Broadway Bares) has crafted a production bound to move, inspire and set audience's feet dancing.

Tickets for the Chicago production range from $33-$100. A select number of premium seats are also available for many performances. Tickets are available now for groups of 15 or more by calling Broadway In Chicago Group Sales at (312) 977-1710. Kinky Boots will be a part of the fall 2012 Season Subscription Series. Individual tickets will go on sale at a later date. For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

Additional information will be announced shortly.

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Harvey Fierstein (Book) made his professional acting debut at La Mama ETC in 1971 in Andy Warhol's only play, Pork. He followed that with appearances in more than 60 off off Broadway productions before he began his playwriting career. Early plays like Flatbush Tosca and Cobra Jewels led to his underground hit, Torch Song Trilogy, which transferred Off Broadway in 1981, and then to Broadway in 1982 where it won the Best Play Tony Award as well as Drama Desk, Obie, and Dramatist Guild awards. Fierstein also won Tony, Drama Desk, and Theater World acting awards for his portrayal of the lead. Fierstein won his third Tony for the libretto of the musical La Cage Aux Folles, which is the only show in history to have won Best Musical and two Best Revival of a Musical Tony Awards. He recently completed a Broadway run in La Cage, playing the role of Zaza for the first time ever. His other plays include Safe Sex, Spookhouse, A Catered Affair, and Legs Diamond. His television work includes “Nurse Jackie,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Family Guy,” and “The Simpsons.” He was nominated for an Emmy for his work on the TV classic, “Cheers.” Films include Mrs. Doubtfire, Independence Day, Death to Smoochy, Bullets Over Broadway, and Showtime's Common Ground (which he also wrote). His children's book, The Sissy Duckling, is published by Simon & Schuster and the HBO film version won him the Humanitas Prize. Fierstein's starring role as Edna in the musical Hairspray won him his fourth Tony Award as well as another Drama Desk Award, New York Magazine Award, and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Performance of the Year. This made him the first person in history to win Tonys as an actor as well as a writer on both the dramatic and musical sides of the theater world. In 2005 Harvey spent a triumphant year on Broadway as Tevye in a critically acclaimed production of Fiddler on the Roof, and then reprised the role in 2009 and 2010 on tour across America. Fierstein was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2008. As a social and political commentator, Harvey's opinion pieces and essays have been featured as "Outtakes" on the TV series “In the Life,” and on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times, among other publications. Disney’s Newsies, featuring a book by Fierstein and a score by Alan Menken, begins performances on Broadway in March. Fierstein lives in a small fictional town in Connecticut.

Cyndi Lauper (Music & Lyrics) burst onto the world stage as the quintessential girl who wants to have fun. After more than 25 sterling years and global record sales in excess of 30 million, she has proven that she has the heart and soul to keep her legion of fans compelled by her every creative move. The beauty of Cyndi Lauper is that she has evolved into a richly multi-faceted renaissance woman who strikes a resonant chord with each project. With her first album “She’s So Unusual”, Cyndi won a Grammy award for Best New Artist and became the first female artist in history to have five top-10 singles from a debut album. Along the way, she has continually won accolades as a singer, musician, actress, and writer. She has been nominated for 14 Grammy Awards, 2 Emmy Awards, 2 American Music Awards, 7 American Video Awards and 18 MTV awards. At the center of Cyndi’s life is music. In 2010, she released her 11th studio album, Memphis Blues, which entered the Billboard 200 at #26, becoming the third highest charting album and the fifth top 40 album of her career. The best selling Blues album of 2010, the album also debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Album Chart, ruling atop the chart for 14 consecutive weeks. On this Grammy nominated collection of blues cover songs, she once again reinvented herself by putting her unique twist on one of music’s most beloved genres. Cyndi continues her love affair with the Blues and the city she recorded her latest album in on her new live DVD and CD, To Memphis With Love, which she released in late 2011. Featuring Allen Toussaint, Tracy Nelson and Jonny Lang, this DVD/CD set introduces her audience to Blues superstars and their music, as well as takes them on her own personal journey rediscovering the music she grew up listening to. An Emmy Award winner for her guest starring role as Marianne Lugasso on “Mad About You”, Cyndi continues to show her range as an actress and personality on television, in film and on stage. Currently she is appearing in the recurring role of bewitching psychic Avalon Harmonia on the FOX hit “Bones” and competed on the NBC hit “Celebrity Apprentice,” raising $45,000 for her foundation, the True Colors Fund. Cyndi recently inked a deal with Mark Burnett Productions for her own reality series set to launch in 2012. In film, Cyndi has appeared in such motion pictures as Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (Fine Line/Miramax), Life With Mikey (Touchstone), Off and Running (Independent), and Vibes (Columbia/Imagine). Perhaps most notable has been her affecting, acclaimed performance opposite Christopher Walken in The Opportunist (Independent). In 2006, Cyndi made her Broadway debut as Jenny in The Threepenny Opera and is currently writing the music for the Broadway adaptation of the British film Kinky Boots. Cyndi has enjoyed a sparkling and colorful life that continues to expand to greater creative heights and global prestige. She is currently capturing her journey in literary form for an autobiography that will be released via Simon & Schuster. It will, no doubt, be another bar-raising milestone in a career that continues to leave the world craving more. "I still have so much to say and share," she says. "I'm grateful for each and everyday that I get to make music. As long as there's a corner of the world where people want to hear me, I'll be there... singing and acting and writing my heart out." An unwavering advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality since the start of her career, Cyndi founded the True Colors Fund in 2008. The non-profit seeks to inspire and engage everyone, particularly the straight community, to become involved in the advancement of LGBT equality and to raise awareness of and bring an end to LGBT youth who are experiencing homelessness. In addition, Cyndi is the Honorary Chairperson and co-founder of the True Colors Residence, the first project of its kind to provide a permanent, supportive and secure home to formerly homeless LGBT youth in New York City. Cyndi is also a tireless participant in the struggle to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In 2010, Cyndi joined with Lady Gaga to be the spokespeople for the MAC Viva Glam Campaign and to educate woman about HIV/AIDS around the world. She also continues to participate in efforts and events for organizations like AMFAR, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in order to speak out about the need for education and greater resources to fight this disease. For more information about Cyndi, please visit her website at www.cyndilauper.com.

Jerry Mitchell (Direction & Choreography) made his Broadway and West End debuts as director of Legally Blonde, for which he also served as Choreographer, and was nominated for both the Tony® and Drama Desk Awards for his choreography and the Drama Desk Award for his direction. He also recently choreographed the Broadway production of Catch Me If You Can and West End production of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies. Mitchell received Tony®, Drama Desk and Outer Critics’ Circle Awards for choreographing the 2005 Tony® Award-winning Best Revival of La Cage aux Folles, having also been nominated for the Tony® as choreographer of Legally Blonde and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Previously, Mitchell has received Olivier, Tony®, Drama Desk, Outer Critics’ Circle and Astaire Award nominations for choreographing Hairspray and Tony®, Drama Desk and Astaire Award nominations for choreographing The Full Monty. On Broadway, he choreographed the hit revivals of Gypsy, starring Bernadette Peters, The Rocky Horror Show (Drama Desk nomination) and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, as well as Never Gonna Dance and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, both on stage and film. He conceived and co-produces Broadway Bares, a comedy burlesque performed annually for the charity, Broadway Cares. Most recently, he directed, choreographed and co-produced Peepshow, a Las Vegas extravaganza production show, and served as Production Supervisor for the Toronto and Broadway productions of Priscilla Queen of the Desert. He recently created Jerry Mitchell Productions, in partnership with Ambassador Theatre Group, under which he will develop, create, and produce new productions for ATG theaters in London, New York, and around the world. Currently, he is supervising the writing of Broadway musicals based on the film Mad Hot Ballroom and the iconic television series, The Honeymooners, both of which he will direct and choreograph for Broadway.