The multi-award-winning musical “Kinky Boots” — with music by pop icon Cyndi Lauper and a book by queer theater legend Harvey Fierstein — tells the true-story-inspired tale of Charlie Price, who tries to save his father’s shoe factory and, in the process, meets the drag queen Lola. Together they create something that queer communities around the world celebrate: sturdy, sexy boots for drag queens and trans women — and a musical about courage, diversity, and overcoming prejudice.
From October 28 to November 9, “Kinky Boots” had already been staged at the Deutsches Theater in Munich. Now the show is heading to Berlin and Oberhausen.
Berlin: Glamour at the Admiralspalast
The Berlin Admiralspalast has, in recent years, repeatedly hosted queer and queer-adjacent productions — and now “Kinky Boots” is set to run between the holidays, from December 17, 2025, to January 17, 2026. The venue in the heart of Mitte, historic and at the same time a hotspot for major stage productions, is the perfect place to experience the show’s high-energy vibe. Audiences can expect electrifying choreography, Lauper’s signature pop hooks, and a warm-hearted message that could hardly be more timely: acceptance is the true heel that holds it all together.
That “Kinky Boots” has been celebrated worldwide is hardly surprising. On Broadway, the show played over 2,500 performances that sold out, along with six Tony Awards, three Olivier Awards, and a Grammy. Media praise was equally strong: The Chicago Tribune called the show “warm-hearted, charming, cheeky, sentimental, and with a big heart.”
For Berlin, the residency means not only Broadway vibes but also a cultural highlight for the queer community — especially in a city where drag art has for decades helped shape not just stages but entire scenes.
Infos & Tickets for Kinky Boots in Berlin
Oberhausen: Ruhrpott meets Drag Power
After Berlin, the touring production moves on to the Ruhr area. From January 20 to February 1, 2026, “Kinky Boots” will be staged at the Metronom Theater Oberhausen — a house that has hosted major productions before and is well suited for international musical entertainment.
Especially for queer people in western Germany, where international tour productions come around less often than in metropolises like Berlin, a stop in Oberhausen offers a special opportunity: drag art, queer history, and the pop-culture musical power on one stage — and in a region whose queer community has been growing and becoming more visible for years.
Infos & Tickets for Kinky Boots in Oberhausen
Queere Botschaft mit Pop-Ikone im Hintergrund
Cyndi Lauper, who has long been a queer icon thanks to hits such as “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and “True Colors,” wrote the early musical numbers for “Kinky Boots” — and earned several awards for them. For her, the project ranks among the most important of her career, as she has stated: the musical is “like a feel-good pill — and we could all use that right now.”
Direct link | Musical trailer
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The true story of Steve Pateman, the English shoe factory owner who saved his business by embracing drag queens and the trans community, adds a political dimension to the production. Queer life realities aren’t just visible but are centered in this successful musical — something that remains valuable and necessary in Germany in 2025/26. (dd/pm)
