Cyndi Lauper. Submitted photo
Cyndi Lauper will do something May 11 that she’s never done before in her 30-year career. She will perform during the AIDS Assistance Program’s annual Evening Under the Stars in Palm Springs (see details below).
But that’s just one of her career-firsts this year. In early April, “Kinky Boots,” the only musical she’s written the music and lyrics for, opened on Broadway. Lauper adapted the show from screen to stage with theater veteran Harvey Fierstein. It received 13 Tony Award nominations on April 30.
Lauper — who won legions of fans with “Time After Time,” “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “True Colors” and an iPod full of other pop tunes — recently shared her opening night experience on Broadway with Desert Outlook.
“I was really nervous — knowing that the show was finally opened and all the reviewers were there too. We had the most amazing audiences in previews, so we felt the crowd would be with us, but knowing there was press in the house that night added to my anxiety. We have all been working on the musical for almost four years. So it was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time.
“Everyone on and off stage that is part of Kinky Boots brought their A game to this project,” Lauper continues. “Everyone from the producers to the cast to the musicians. It was an amazing creative process to be part of. We are all a family now and when you come to the show, you feel that and (are) affected by it.
“It’s a great story about how acceptance for yourself and others can change the world. … Then, reviews (which I never read my own reviews, good or bad, as I find them distracting) for ‘Kinky Boots,’ which is so important to the health of a musical, were all really good. So I was overjoyed.”
Lauper reveals more about the show, her crazy-busy life, and what she thinks about the progress of gay rights in the new issue of Desert Outlook, out May 9.
IF YOU GO
Twentieth Evening Under the Stars benefitting AIDS Assistance Program. Honorees include Helene Galen, Jerry and Barbara Keller, and Brian Wanzek
When: 5:30 p.m. May 11
Where: O’Donnell Golf Club, 301 N. Belardo Road, Palm Springs
Tickets: $395 – $1,500
Info: www.aidsassistance.org, (760) 325-8481
