Batch of Broadway must-sees makes heat more bearable

I’m just back from another trip to New York, where the humidity and heat made it icky-sticky on the Great White Way.

But the shows were sizzling, too, notably the Cyndi Lauper-Harvey Fierstein "Kinky Boots," which converted a theme of hatred into acceptance, set against a failing shoe factory owner (Stark Sands) out of touch with the times until a transvestite trouper (Billy Porter) pushes manufacturing of boots — kinky boots. It’s this year’s "La Cage aux Folles," where boys will be girls and prance with heart-tugging joy. …

Also hot: the re-imagined "Pippin" about the directionless son (Matthew James Thomas, the original stage "Spider-Man") of King Charlemagne (Terrence Mann) finding the essence of his uncertain life amid a circus motif, with agile acrobats and magical feats, and classic Bob Fosse choreography (hands and quirky body moves) reinterpreted for a new generation. Both shows were big Tony winners this past season.

Then there was "Here Lies Love," aka the Imelda Marcos off-Broadway musical, with Hawaii actressRuthie Ann Miles portraying the ambitious wife of Ferdinand Marcos depicted as a disco queen, thus sequestered in a flashy, David Byrne/Fatboy Slim rock-score-driven dance floor setting. Gimmicky, yes, and, alas, ends with nary a mention of Imelda’s kinky shoes in Hawaii. …

Stars? Tom Hanks did a splendid turn as newspaper tabloid columnist Mike McAlary in "Lucky Guy," Sigourney Weaver topped an outrageous ensemble in the oddly titled "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" (characters inspired from Chekov).

Jane Lynch was gleeful but a bit too gorgeous as Miss Hannigan in "Annie," a safely pedestrian revival for summer. But the must-see, must-hearCicely Tyson was incomparable and flawless (she earned a Tony) as an elderly soul who aches to visit her withering home before she dies in "A Trip to Bountiful." Her co-stars were Cuba Gooding Jr. as her son and Vanessa Williams as her daughter-in-law. …

Hope to elaboratein a future story or blog to discuss the Broadway spectrum of soaring ticket prices, upcoming titles and trends. …

WELL DONE: Producer-director Jack Cione makes an unexpected appearance, tickling the ivories in a brief "Darktown Strutters Ball" segment, in the current "Follies," themed "This Is a Great Country," playing at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday at a spanking-new 200-seat theater at the Arcadia retirement facility.

Arcadians and guest troupers don Cione’s costume finery from decades past to lip-sync a pastiche of grand ol’ flag numbers, rarely heard classics and, ahem, even songs from "The Book of Mormon" and "Les Misérables." Seldom have so many seniors grooved and gyrated in Arcadia’s signature wellness and wonderment program. You need to know a resident for access. …

SUMMER PRIME: Mililani Mauka resident and Broadway star Loretta Ables Sayre has been re-creating her Tony-nominated Bloody Mary characterin a summertime revival of "South Pacific" at The Muny in St. Louis, an 11,000-seat outdoor venue at Forest Park.

The Muny has been a hub for Broadway notables. Beth Leavel, who won aTony in "The Drowsy Chaperone," was AblesSayre’s chaperone upon arrival, and she’s bumped into Ken Page (the original Old Deuteronomy in "Cats"), Hugh Panaro(perennial "Phantom") and Norm Lewis ("Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess").