Here’s my version of Entertainment Tonight, after being part of the opening night celebrations of Toronto’s Kinky Boots.
We enjoyed the Canadian premier of Kinky Boots at the 108 year old Royal Alexandra Theatre. Our son, Thomas, who is part of the cast, provided us with tickets for the after party at the Westin Harbour Castle. 
Interesting people we met and chatted with:
- Members of the very talented cast of Kinky Boots, including the star Alan Mingo, who plays Lola/Simon. I was star-struck.
- Associate Choreographer Rusty Mowery. Rusty worked on Kinky Boots on Broadway, then Seoul, Korea, and then Toronto. Next he’ll be going to London, England and then Australia with Kinky Boots.
- Orchestrations & musical arranger Stephen Oremus. (He conducted the orchestra at the Oscars this year!) He also did orchestrations for Book of Mormon & Wicked, among others.
- Tom Craig, who just happened to be at the party. He plays Inspector Thomas Brackenreid on my favourite TV show, Murdoch Mysteries. The hors d’oeuvres at the party, in keeping the Kinky Boots show, were all food from an English pub. So Tom, a Yorkshire man, was enjoying the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, as well as the bangers and mash. He was very friendly and gracious when I told him I love Murdoch Mysteries. I was star-struck again.
- The lovely and talented Melissa O’Neil – former Canadian Idol. We had the opportunity to get to know her when she was in High School Musical in Grand Bend. She has appeared on Broadway in Les Mis and Jesus Christ Superstar, and next she will be starring in a new TV show.
Interesting people we saw at Kinky Boots and the after party:
- Cyndi Lauper sat down at the end of our row, but always had something of an entourage around her. Nevertheless, I saw many people chatting with her, and she seemed very approachable and pleasant. Cyndi wrote the songs and won the Tony for best original score for Kinky Boots, the first woman (solo) to win that award. (Other women have won as part of a writing team.)
- Jerry Mitchell is the Director and Choreographer of Kinky Boots on Broadway, and won the Tony for best choreography – and of course, directed and choreographed this production in Toronto. Kinky Boots won the Tony for Best Musical in 2013.
- David Mirvish was posing for photos with the giant red boots that are standing in front of the Royal Alexandra Theatre. He, of course, is the owner/producer of Mirvish Productions, which operates four theatres in Toronto, and is Canada’s largest commercial theatre company. (Other theatre companies are operated as non-profits.)
- Big-time Broadway Producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig. These people and others put up millions of dollars to create the musical.
- Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynn was at the show.
- MP and former Toronto police chief Julian Fantino, who was very unpopular as Veteran Affairs Minister. I was surprised to see him present at Kinky Boots, as I recall him having much animosity toward the gay community in London when he was police chief there. I wonder if he took part in the pride parade prior to the show.