For African American, British born actor Callum Francis the fifth time is certainly the charm as he reprises his role as Lola in “Kinky Boots” at Stage 42. Francis played the role in the original West End production in London, the Australian tour, the first U.K. tour, on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre and now at Stage 42, located at 422 W. 42nd St. and he is FABULOUS. “Kinky Boots” is an incredible musical with a stunning book by Harvey Fierstein, mesmerizing music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, and delightful choreography and direction by Jerry Mitchell. In it, Lola, a drag queen, encounters Charlie Price, the owner of a shoe factory with no customers. Charlie is trying to find a new niche market and a new group of customers, and Lola not only inspires him to make boots for drag queens, she designs the boots as well. Francis recently spoke with the AmNews about being Lola. He was candid and honest in this Q&A.
AmNews: What is it like to play Lola?
CF: It’s just a joy. We get joy from the audience from their feelings and give it back. Jerry [the director] describes it as a tsunami of love because we get as much joy as we can and then we give it back. Especially at the end.
AmNews: You played the role four times before this and now at Stage 42. Have you grown with this character?
CF: Well, it’s interesting because coming back to it, my agent described it as a victory lap. I thought I put it to bed when I finished it on Broadway, and then circumstances in my life happened. I learned a lot from doing this role, about myself, and I felt like I needed to remind myself of certain things. When I accepted the role, I thought I was coming back to do the same kind of iteration of Lola that I already did. But the director, Cyndi Harvey, kind of said, “She’s a bit more mature.” Which I could see was the case. The last time I played it was three years ago, so I guess we all mature. So I think she’s a bit different.
AmNews: What was going on in your life that you felt you needed to do it?
CF: I was doing a job overseas where my person was questioned. I had someone, who was a senior in power in the show I was doing, take me off the show because I wasn’t “manly enough.” I’m quite comfortable in my own skin, but it was quite jarring, so I started to…not believe it, but I started to question certain things. Lola taught me a lot of things about myself I didn’t realize. At that time, when I was going through that, was when I got the call to see if I wanted to do this again and I said actually I do. I think I need to. Maybe that’s why there’s so much joy in her, because it’s a reminder.
AmNews: What is the journey like when you do a character that you know like the back of your hand, but you’re doing it with a different cast?
CF: That’s what’s been so much fun about it, because it’s completely different. I can’t play the show the same way because I have to do it towards the one who is playing Charlie and they are going to be different. Jerry Mitchell has a really wonderful way of letting you bring yourself to a role, so all these Charlies are bringing themselves to the same role, but they’re all different people. And, then I get to play around, far too much than I should.
AmNews: Lola is a character that has a lot of heart, love, humor. She also faces discrimination from men who don’t understand her. What do you want people to realize about this character?
CF: If you can look past the dress, the wigs and the heels to the person, you’ll realize that you don’t have to be a drag queen or a shoemaker, or whatever you are seeing on the stage, to realize that these people are real humans with real problems and real relationship issues with family members. We all grew up as kids and we had arguments in the house. Lola and Charlie want to think that everything is okay and it’s not. And I think that’s what I would have people take…“Kinky Boots” can really change someone’s life, it can open their eyes to something they didn’t previously see. It’s a joy to be able to do that. You get that one little brown boy or girl in the audience and you can change their lives, because they will see themselves up there. And, it’s a joy and a very wonderful responsibility to have.
AmNews: You bring so much energy as Lola. Where does that come from for every performance?
CF: From the audience. We just did a matinee and the audience enjoyed it, but they were very quiet, and it’s so difficult. It’s not that we need the applause to say we did it right, we know we’re doing it right. But it’s the energy that those kinds of things give you to get through to the end.
AmNews: What is the energy that you are working off of when you’re in scenes with the Angels, the other drag queens?
CF: I adore them. Six of them and two swings and they are all wonderful. We had a chat at the very start—I call them my girls—and I said if there’s any issues in the building, if you are not feeling respected or anything like that, my door is always open. That’s how I want it to stay. As Lola I look to interact with them on stage…I want to make sure from the start that we are a team. Before every show I go into the dressing room and I put my hand on each chin, look them in the eyes and I tell them to enjoy the show. Then we go out there onstage and we are the best group of friends. You see them, they work their butts off.
AmNews: Why is it so important that a musical like “Kinky Boots” is being presented on the stage right now?
CF: The list is kind of endless. “Kinky Boots” finds itself in cities, countries, when it needs it most, because it is pure joy. America needs it. There are certainly things happening in the world that are ludicrous and in “Kinky Boots” you put two different kinds of people together, which is what life is about, and watch how it can work if you open your heart and mind and change it if needed…If we have hundreds of people leaving each night and one person changing their mind, that’s a win.
AmNews: What would you say to the young person watching this show who thinks that they too would be comfortable in drag, but don’t know how to communicate this to their parents and friends?
CF: Bring them to the show. The friends that I had that had that feeling, that confusion, that need to come out to their families but didn’t know how to express it, “Kinky Boots” is a great conversation starter. I had so many friends that came out to their family after bringing them to watch the show. If you’re brave enough and strong enough, who says that you’re not allowed to do those things? Who says that you have to do certain things the way society says you have to do them? We only get one life, so why do we question things?
For tickets and for more info, visit www.kinkybootsthemusical.com