Kinky Boots

I’m sitting here reading other blogs, and looking at an old post on tourists over at Frankie G’s (over there on the lower right) where he is discussing tourists in Vegas. I liked one paragraph that is fairly descriptive of what happens when people get here for the first time: “I have a theory about why the Las Vegas tourist is generally less tolerable than others. Resentment can build up fast in this town for a tourist. The first step off the plane is a kick in the head. Las Vegas looks nothing like you imagined. Then you find out that every single step of Las Vegas Boulevard is designed to leave you with less money, the restaurants are twice as expensive as they need to be, the bus system sucks, the cabbies suck, the cops are cowboys, and your proven blackjack system didn’t work. All of your expectations, delusions of grandeur, and preconceived notions are shot down one by one.” Sounds pretty much like Vegas to me.

Locals however know what to expect, and there are a lot of things for us to do that don’t involve the Strip, though we do like to go down and walk around once in a while. Kind of like people that live in southern Florida; how many times do they go to DisneyWorld?

The Union Pacific Railroad had a big hand in starting Las Vegas. This was a convenient place to stop for water for their engines a long time ago, and they quickly put in a big engine yard, station and switching yard. A few years ago the UP gave the city over sixty acres that they didn’t need anymore (and were being taxed on) right across the freeway from downtown. It took the city a while to figure out what to do with this property, and they are still discussing things to put on it. But one of the things that was built is the The Smith Center for the Performing Arts which opened a few years ago. It’s the home to the Las Vegas Philharmonic and the Nevada Ballet Theatre, has several stages and quite a few interesting things come through there. We saw Wicked when it came by, as well as several other events. They just announced that the musical version of Kinky Boots will move from Broadway in New York and start touring next year, and this will be their first stop, probably sometime in September 2014. They did a number from the show at the recent Tony Awards, where the show won several awards.


We have seen the movie it is based on several times, and look forward to catching this adaptation when it comes here. It looks like a road show will travel well.