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[0:00] Mo Brady: You're listening to The Ensemblist, Broadway's original podcast. I'm Mo Brady.

[0:16] Mo Brady: For seven years and more than 2,500 public performances, Kinky Boots has been raising up audiences at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway. For those of us here at Ensemblist HQ, the show has a special place in our hearts because of the way it showcases its ensemble of actors and has treated so many of them like family offstage. Of the 61 actors who have played ensemble roles in the Broadway production, we've been lucky to have eight of them in the studio during the show's run. So as a special tribute to them and their fantastic achievement, we've put together some of our very favorite stories about Kinky Boots for you today. So sit back, put up your heels, and let them raise you up. Stay tuned.

Throughout the years, we've asked many of the actors in Kinky Boots to tell us the story of how they were brought into the production. And while they all obviously had stories that ended in success, each one's journey was quite different, as you'll hear from these three actors now.

[1:08] Joey Taranto: Hello, I am Joey Taranto, and I live in Harlem, New York. My audition process for Kinky Boots was very colorful. I got an email from my agent saying, we've submitted you for this. Chelsea would like you to come in for a role of an angel. Here's the breakdown. And I read the breakdown, and the breakdown was, we want fierce Beyonce voguing. This ain't no room for, like, a wallflower. So I emailed my agent back and said, right, have we met? You have seen what I do. I mean, I played a rocker in Rock of Ages. I played a bunch of asshole characters in Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark. Like, there was nothing in my resume that said Beyonce voguer. There was nothing. So they're like, just go. You know, they need people who squelch.

So I said, okay, I can squelch. I went in, and I did my scene, and I sang, and Harvey was there, and Jerry was there, and I'd never auditioned for either of them, and they were lovely. So then I got a call back, and they're like, you're coming to a dance call. And I'm like, right. I'm not a dancer. That's funny. You're really funny. And they're like, no, no, no, it's a mover's call. You're fine. So we get up there, and I see every Broadway dancer I've ever known. And so they're like, next group. And as we're going in, there's a guy who's limping out who popped his hamstring doing the combination. So I was like, what the fuck? What are we doing? So we go in there, and they start teaching the combination.

Then they're like, okay, now we're going to do groups of four. And it was crazy. Like, there was floor work. There was like a double inside turn into a split, and then a cartwheel on the left-hand side. I don't do that shit. I do tricks with my vocals. I do not do tricks physically. So all I did was go out there and do the best single jazz split I could possibly do. During the audition process, I was never asked to be in drag or wear high heels. I don't even know. I don't own high heels. And then there was like the very last dance call we had. It was just about 10 of us, and some of the boys had heels on. And so I never had to do that. I somehow managed to book the show. It's a miracle that I did.

Getting ready for the show. It's a lot. So I usually get in the shower, do all the shaving I need to do and the grooming, warm up, get to the theater. I usually get there about 45 minutes before half hour, because I'm Southern. I don't like to be rushed. And I proceed to cover my eyebrows with some glue, and that takes a little bit of time. And then do half my makeup, then go get my prep on, go back, finish the makeup, then go back, get my wig on, and then I'll try to do some stretching or do some push-ups and just get my body going for the show. The difference in my preparation for Kinky Boots versus Rock of Ages and Spider-Man was that I could sail in at half hour, do warm up, put on some boy clothes and sail out on stage.

Meanwhile, in Kinky Boots, I mean, I could never do that. Some of the other boys are like great at it. They can show up at maybe five minutes before half hour, get their makeup done and do all the things they need to do. I can't do it.

[4:16] Andy Kelso: My name is Andy Kelso, and I live in Astoria, Queens. My Broadway credits are Mamma Mia and Kinky Boots. My audition process for Kinky Boots spans a long time because I was a part of the show since, I think, the very second reading of the show. And I remember my very first audition for the show was for Charlie Price, and it went great. I mean, it was like one of those auditions you leave and you're like, okay, I think I did everything that I wanted to do in there. And then I left and I got word from my agent that Jerry wanted to see me as Harry, which is the role that I ended up playing. Harry understudies Charlie. So that was, I guess, 2011. And I went in and I did the song Come to the Rescue, which was a song that was cut and replaced by Step One.

And I did a couple of scenes that are still in the show that were Charlie scenes. And they had a whole different song for Harry that I ended up singing. That was my very first audition. And then we did that. And the workshop reading went fantastically. A couple weeks later, I was supposed to leave for the Wicked tour. And so this is now 2012. And right before I went on the road, I got called in to do the Charlie stuff. It was just Jerry, Harvey, Cindy and Stephen Remus. It was just like all the deciders. I think they just wanted to make sure that I could sing that stuff and that they could see me as Charlie. And I did it. And it went well and got a big hug from the team and said, all right, enjoy the tour. So I made sure to get an out in my contract for that from Wicked. And I was lucky enough to be able to use it.

[5:48] Adinah Alexander: Hi, I'm Adinah Alexander and I live in Hell's Kitchen. You know, I did a lot of different things and I was always working, but I didn't get another Broadway show until Kinky Boots. And that came about because Stephen Remus called me up and he said, I'm doing this thing with Cindy Lauper. Do you want to do it? I said, sure. So it was a reading and I was originally playing Trish and Jen Perry was playing Pat. And I was doing a White Christmas tour and I was supposed to go out on tour again. And I called my agent. I said, get out of it. The show is going to be so huge. I just know it. And so I said, I want to be available for all of it. I felt it in my gut. It had so much good in it. My whole career has been basically new musicals.

So I've watched a lot of things crash and burn because the writers or the director can't let go of material that doesn't work. I knew the way Jerry was in rehearsal, that he had the greatest eye and ear and everything was just constantly getting better and better and better. And it already had its main lead producers in place. I knew that first day that it was going to be something really, really special.

[6:58] Ellen Marie Marsh: In one of the show's most memorable moments, the cast of Kinky Boots climbs aboard conveyor belts in celebration of their success. Shortly after the show's opening in 2013, we had Ellen Marie Marsh on The Ensemblist calling into the studio from her dressing room. She told us about learning to tread those conveyor belts for eight performances a week. My name is Ellen Marie Marsh and I live in Jersey City Heights, New Jersey. The treadmills obviously are a huge beast. And we had weeks of treadmill dance training and Jerry had his guys in there doing pre-production for weeks and weeks, seeing how they would work and seeing how they would function as a dance partner. Jerry's vision for the treadmill number was the OK Go viral video from a couple of years ago.

It just looks like the shoe conveyor belt. It's one long treadmill and Billy Porter hops up and I'm actually the first one. I'm the first factory worker. It's like, yeah, let's dance on the treadmill. So we have one long treadmill that then separates into four small treadmills. We spin around on them. We jump off of them. We flip off of them. We roll off of them to one long treadmill that goes the length of the stage. That's all run by actors. We unhook them. We start them. We stop them. We change the speeds on them. And that's all highly, highly choreographed. It was almost pre-production with the cast. We would set aside after lunch where we would just play on the treadmill. Every single person in the cast got on the treadmill.

So we would learn how to walk on the treadmill. Then we would learn how to step off the treadmill, do a pivot turn on the treadmill. And it just sort of escalated. And we would try different things. We would have the piano going, the drums going. So we would just have days to play on the treadmill. What tricks can you do? Are you scared to do this? Can you flip over the bar? Can you roll off? Are your arms long enough to do this? So even though Jerry and his team did several days of pre-production, we did that with the company. From the moment he said in the workshops we were going to be dancing on treadmills, just said, I have to be one of the people that dances on that treadmill. I think he thought it would be a lot more fun to do it on a treadmill than on a treadmill.

[8:58] Ellyn Marie Marsh: It's fun for a girl to be up there first. And my character is a little rough around the edges. So when he said, Ellen, you're going to hop up there, I just thought it was like, I want a Tony. I just thought it was so fun being an ensemble member and being the only girl that sort of gets to do the tricks. I was super excited, really proud. There is a high level of trust within our cast to do the right move at the right time, because that's all on us. Every person in that number is doing something at some time. We also help each other on and off the treadmills. We do a lot of jumping on and off, and we rely on each other for that. Everyone has to be at the right place at the right time, turning on and off the treadmills, making sure the speeds are right.

While trotting treadmills was one new experience for the original cast, becoming a drag queen was another for many in the show. Back in 2015, we had original cast member Joey Taranto in the studio to tell us about becoming one of Lola's angels.

[9:50] Joey Taranto: So the role that angels play in Kinky Boots is they support Lola, and they work in the nightclub, and yeah, they're a fun group of gals. Drag is an art form. It's really kind of amazing to see where people take the art that is drag. It's really awesome to watch RuPaul's Drag Race and see how people have really committed their lives to it. Some people keep it very simple. Some people do these very elaborate themed looks. It's really amazing. I think the thing that unites drag queens is probably the feeling of being a little bit of a misfit. I didn't realize what a commitment it is to be in drag. It is no joke. So balls in a dance belt a size too small for you, and three pairs of tights in six-inch platform heels with 20 pounds of hair on your head and 20 pounds of makeup on your face.

It's a lot and not for the faint of heart. My favorite thing about playing a drag queen in Kinky Boots is that I really get to step into a role. Something about really transforming yourself lends itself so much to playing a role, but just putting on the heels and the makeup. Yeah, it's a lot, but it really is like once you're there, you're in it. You're that character, and it makes your job a lot easier in that sense. But it's fun to be somebody else for a couple of hours. This is how I talk, but as soon as I get all gussied up, Kyle Post and I are sitting next to each other going, uh-huh, girl, who's you talking to? That's not my everyday life, but it sort of is for two hours every day.

[11:32] Andy Kelso: The first two months of the show's run were a whirlwind of press performances and celebrations, all leading up to the Tony Awards, as original cast member Andy Kelso told us in our Tony Season for Understudies episode. I think when a show like ours was received so well, it was interesting after opening and, you know, when the Tony nominations came out and stuff, I can't remember it affecting me in a more heightened way. I think it's just an exciting time, especially in our situation. I think that when we felt like we were in a good place to possibly win the Tony for Best Musical, and we had a lot of nominations, and I think it's just exciting because everyone's there. Definitely for me, you know, as an actor, you know, someday I want to be a Tony nominee, and someday I want to win a Tony, and someday, you know, I have all these things, and it's nice to be able to be in that situation where all the excitement's going on around you, and you can sit back and kind of observe and just see how the whole process works, because this was my first time being in an original Broadway show. I guess I knew they were out there, but I think that we're still such a young show, we just wanted to be so good every night, just so that we could continue running, no matter who was out there.

[12:50] Andy Kelso: Including me, an astonishing 14 actors from the show's 31 original cast members will be in the company for its closing performance. That can be attributed to many things, but none more so than that the company of Kinky Boots is a deeply rooted family, as we heard from Adinah Alexander in late 2017.

[15:50] Adinah Alexander: It's interesting because you make different choices at different points in your career. Of course, I was young. I know I thought I would be a star, but I learned that I would rather be a working actor, so when Kinky Boots came up, I just wanted to be at the party. I literally said to Jerry, you know, because I had a character named Mrs. Cobb that was cut when we were in Chicago, and he put his hands on my shoulders, and he said, Mrs. Cobb has to go, and I said, listen, I don't care. I just want to be at the party, because I said to myself, if I get into a long-running show, I'm going to stay, and so I knew this was going to be that. I made the choice no matter what. You know, things got cut, things happened.

I wanted to be a part of the show. I felt so strongly that it was going to be something special, and I love a long run. I love going to work every day, like being with family and the crew, and I know everybody at the theater, and so I just knew it was going to be what I needed. You know, everybody throws that around a lot, Broadway as a family, but this show, it's true. It's a really tight family. I can't believe some of us have been doing it since the first reading, like six and a half, seven years ago, and we're still there, and every night, it's fun, because we laugh.

[17:11] Mo Brady: Special thanks to Adinah Alexander, Andy Kelso, Ellyn Marie Marsh, and Joey Taranto for sharing their stories with us over the past seven years. The Ensemblist was produced today by me, Mo Brady. You can help others find out about The Ensemblist by leaving us a rating and review in Apple Podcasts. You can also download episodes wherever you get your podcasts, or at theensemblist.com. Follow The Ensemblist on Instagram to see the latest post from theensemblist.com, where we share the stories of talented artists working in Broadway ensembles, and you can let us know what you think of this episode, slide into our DMs, or email us at info at theensemblist.com. Thanks for listening, guys. Until next time!