‘Kinky Boots’ Kicks Up a Profit on Broadway

NEW YORK – Demonstrating once again that winning the Tony Award for best musical is a major asset at the box office, the hit Broadway show Kinky Boots has recouped its initial investment of $13.5 million in a remarkably swift 30 weeks of performances.

Based on the 2005 Miramax film of the same name, the musical tells the story of a struggling British shoe factory saved from bankruptcy by ditching its trademark brogues and diversifying into customized thigh-high boots for drag queens. The show was directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, with a book by Harvey Fierstein and music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper.

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In addition to best musical, the production won Tonys for lead actor Billy Porter‘s flamboyant turn as glamazon Lola, as well as for Lauper’s score, Mitchell’s choreography and for orchestrations and sound. 

Lead producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig confirmed the Broadway recoupment Thursday. The show officially opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on April 4 following a month of previews. It has regularly been playing to capacity houses, grossing around $1.6 million a week thanks to the high volume of premium-priced tickets being sold. The cumulative box office total for the production recently passed the $40 million mark.

Among other recent winners of the best musical Tony, the more modestly scaled Once recouped its $5.5 million investment in six months, while The Book of Mormon, which is playing in a significantly smaller theater, recovered its $11.4 million capitalization in nine months.

Plans have been announced for a national tour of Kinky Boots to kick off in September 2014 at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas.