Wig worn in Broadway production of Kinky Boots: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Wig worn by Billy Porter as Lola in the Broadway production of the musical Kinky Boots at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. The brown-haired wig has blonde highlights and has been styled into curls.

Kinky Boots is one of the most popular and acclaimed musicals of the 21st century, having won a season-high six Tony Awards of 13 nominations in 2013 including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Choreography. The musical Kinky Boots was an adaptation of from the 2005 British film of the same name, itself an adaptation of a 1999 episode of the BBC2 documentary series Trouble at the Top exploring the story of an English shoe company executive who faced the prospect of having to close his family’s factory due to rising costs and declining profits. He saved the company by transitioning to producing fetish footwear for men despite workers’ initial discomfort. Broadway producer Daryl Roth recruited acclaimed writer, performer, and LGBTQ advocate Harvey Fierstein to write the book and pop musician Cyndi Lauper to write the music for the show, which opened on Broadway April 4, 2013. The musical version of Kinky Boots tells the same story of the Price & Son shoe factory In Northampton, England, but in its dialogue and music stresses the themes of inclusion, tolerance, and self-acceptance.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: around 2013
• Object Name: wig
• Physical Description: hair (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 16 in x 14 in x 14 in; 40.64 cm x 35.56 cm x 35.56 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York City
• Subject: Entertainment, general
• Subject: Theater
• Subject: Musical Theater
• Subject: LGBTQ
• Subject: Gay Rights
• Subject: LGBTQ Rights
• ID Number: 2019.0035.03
• accession number: 2019.0035
• catalog number: 2019.0035.03
• Credit Line: Daryl Roth Productions
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.