‘Kinky Boots’ coming to Century II

His native South Africa, Adam du Plessis says, wasn’t exactly a hotbed for new theater when he was growing up.

The classics were the norm, he said. “Rent” wasn’t staged there until 2001. “The Lion King” wasn’t on until 2004.

“It took us a while to get any of the new shows,” du Plessis recalled in a phone interview.

But that has changed. His home country will, sometime in 2019, land a tour of “Kinky Boots,” which won five Tony Awards in 2013.

“They’re not as far behind as they used to be,” du Plessis said from Knoxville, Tenn.

Du Plessis doesn’t expect to be cast in his home country, but in the meantime he’s enjoying life on the road with the “Kinky Boots” tour, which comes to Century II for three performances Jan. 9-11.

“Kinky Boots” – which won Tonys for best musical, best score (by 1980s songstress Cyndi Lauper), best actor, sound design, choreography and orchestrations – was written by actor-playwright Harvey Fierstein and is based on the 2005 British film of the same name.

Inspired by a true story, the musical’s hero is Charlie Price, who inherited a failing shoe factory in Northampton, England, from his father. The business gets a rejuvenation thanks to an unlikely partnership with a drag queen named Lola to make special, elaborate and flashy high-heeled shoes – kinky boots, if you will.

Du Plessis plays Don, the factory foreman who mocks Lola and ends up in a boxing match with the drag queen at a local pub.

“I’d like to think that he’s not necessarily the bad guy, but he represents the bad guy. The bad guy is more the situation,” he said of his character.

“He represents bigotry in the show,” du Plessis added.

Du Plessis, who has been on the “Kinky Boots” tour since October, said his character is more boisterous and outspoken than he would dare to be.

“Don is much larger than I am,” he said.

He said he had been pining for a role in the show ever since he saw it on Broadway.

“I was ready to do any role they had,” Du Plessis said. “I would have been happy in the ensemble.”

The 36-year-old said he started performing as a singer, and only after classes at the University of Cape Town developed a love for acting. His credits include “Macbeth,” “Annie,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Rock of Ages.”

Du Plessis will get to spend the holidays with his family in South Africa, weathering what was scheduled to be a 20-hour flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg.

This leg of the “Kinky Boots” tour is scheduled to run through early May. After that, he’ll look for other roles. His dream parts are the title roles in either “Sweeney Todd” or “The Phantom of the Opera.”

“As you can see, I love the bad guys,” he said with a laugh.

This story was originally published December 22, 2017 at 12:33 PM with the headline "‘Kinky Boots’ coming to Century II."