Interview: Costumer Joe Michienzie talks KINKY BOOTS at The Company Theatre

The eponymous thigh-highs in “Kinky Boots” are just one of the many statement-making fashion elements in the musical, which will be at The Company Theatre (TCT) in Norwell, July 26 to August 18.

The musical tells the story of Charlie Price, a young man trying to rescue his four-generation family shoe-manufacturing business from extinction by pairing with Lola, a fashionable drag performer. Together, they create a line of stylish stilettos suitable for the haute-couture runways of Milan and solid enough to support whoever might wear them – including the burly, hidebound Price and Son assembly-line workers.

“Lola has nine or 10 looks, while the other principals have three to five. The Angels have at least five costumes each, and each ensemble member has two,” explained TCT’s resident costume designer Joe Michienzie by telephone recently from the theatre.

The Norwood native credits TCT’s considerable costume stock with making his job easier.

“We have a great array of costumes, everything from historical to current day, so there was no need to rent anything for this production,” he says. “I was pleased about that, too, although in general, I like to find a balance that involves pulling from stock, building, and renting when needed. For the opening number, I found everything I needed in stock and just had to make some alterations. It was quite exciting, too, because it was all in black and red which is what I had in mind. It was pretty magical to find everything I wanted,” says Michienzie.

The costumer counts himself among the legion of fans of the 2005 British film “Kinky Boots,” who found everything they wanted in its Broadway musical adaptation – winner of six 2013 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and the 2014 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album – which featured Cyndi Lauper’s Tony-winning music and lyrics, and book by Harvey Fierstein. It enjoyed a six-year run at New York’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre before closing in April 2019.

“It is one of my favorite Broadway shows,” says Michienzie. “I love the energy, the heart, and the acceptance in the story.”

The original costumes for “Kinky Boots” were designed by three-time Tony Award winner Gregg Barnes (“The Drowsy Chaperone,” “Follies,” “Some Like It Hot”).

“Gregg Barnes is one of my favorite Broadway costume designers. He came up with truly iconic looks for ‘Kinky Boots,’ which you want to be sure to evoke when you work on a subsequent production like this. It’s a big challenge, but it’s worth it,” says Michienzie.

“I found a website that specializes in boots for drag queens, so Lola, Charlie, and Don all have matching red crocodile leather boots,” says the designer. “For the finale, ‘Raise You Up,’ I had the option to replicate the boots from the Broadway production or create something on my own.”

Michienzie, who makes his home in Pembroke with his husband, Christopher Landis, a chorus teacher at Hingham Middle School, was deciding which way to go when a certain date on the calendar inspired him.

“I started my work on this show on the first of June when Pride flags were going up everywhere. So I decided, in addition to the Union Jack, I would customize the Angels’ boots with various flags including the American, the Rainbow, the Trans, and the Bear flags,” he says.

A 2003 graduate of Norwood High School, Michienzie earned an associate’s degree at Dean College in Franklin before continuing his education at Oklahoma City University, where he earned a BA in theater performance with a minor in costume design. As a performer, he has appeared in the ensembles of “Oklahoma!” and “The Music Man” at Waltham’s Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston, where he also served as wardrobe supervisor, and TCT’s “Evita.”  

Branching out from the stage, Michienzie has also done stitching and other costume-related work on feature films including 2022’s “Hocus Pocus 2,” 2023’s “The Holdovers,” and “Madame Web,” which was released in February of this year.

“The first movie I ever worked on was ‘Hocus Pocus 2,’ which was filmed in Rhode Island,” says Michienzie. “Salvador Perez was the costume designer and I was a stitcher. I embellished the beautiful green velvet coat Bette Midler wears with gold and rhinestones,” he recalls. “Seeing my name in the credits of that picture was one of the biggest moments in my professional life – the closest thing to seeing my name in lights.”

Photo captions: At top, Brandon Wong as Charlie, and Gilbert Dabady as Lola in rehearsal for the Company Theatre production of “Kinky Boots.” At side, Costumer Joe Michienzie with one of the boots he customized for the Company Theatre production of “Kinky Boots.” Photos by Zoe Bradford.

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