Cyndi Lauper, the woman your fourth grade teacher told you was a bad role model because girls want to do so much more than just have fun, is back at it. This time, she's writing songs for new Broadway musical Kinky Boots. Based on the 2005 British comedy, and written by Harvey Fierstein, it's the story of a man who's struggling shoe business gets a boost creating coquettish kitten heels and sexy stilettos for drag queens.
Drag queens are something Lauper can relate to.
"Sometimes a man doesn't dress up like a woman because he wants to be a woman," says Lauper of the fetishistic footwear. "He dresses like a woman to make him feel more like a man."
Lauper's crossover to Broadway is a natural for a pop star who once featured 50 drag queens in a video of her biggest hit, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," and who has been a longtime activist for gay rights.
"I am a drag queen," she asserts as she settles into a banquette at Sardi's.
As far as what it means to be a drag queen, Lauper has some very definite ideas.
"It's performance art. You think I'm putting on a corset, changing the color of my hair, and not thinking about what star from what movie I'm emulating in a photograph?" says Lauper.
"You don't put makeup on to enhance what you got. You draw the mouth you always wanted, the eyes you always wanted. Find out who was very glamorous who had your shape face even if your shape face isn't very popular right now. Create yourself! That's another way that I'm a drag queen."
Uh, who else really wants to see Kinky Boots??
[LA Times]
