Nyoy & Mikkie on Kinky Boots

Nyoy and Mikkie Volante open up about the joys and challenges of working on such a highly-acclaimed production as Kinky Boots.

With the show’s success last year, they are more determined than ever to give audiences an experience worth coming back for. We sat down with Nyoy (who will once again be stepping into the heels of Lola), and Mikkie (who will be playing Lauren for the first time) to talk about the joys and challenges of working on a high-heeled hit production.

What is Kinky Boots for you?

Nyoy: It’s a very nice story in the guise of a fabulous show. It has issues that you have to address and heal, but underneath a very festive and fabulous song-and-dance routine, I really feel that people should watch this because it addresses — maybe indirectly — real issues. But despite the issues that it addresses, you just can’t help but feel good because it’s presented in such a way that’s beautiful.

Mikkie: I was lucky to see it as an audience member before I got to do this, so I got to see its effect on other people. As an actress, I like to watch the audience — sometimes more than the actual show — and I think what really hits home with Kinky Boots is that...just love who you are. ’Cause if you can accept yourself, that’s where it starts. So I think that’s what Kinky Boots is for me. It’s self-acceptance and self love.

Is that something that resonated with you as an actor?

Mikkie: Absolutely. Not even just as an actor. As a person, as a mom, as a wife. It can resonate with anyone. Everyone’s got insecurities or there’s always something about us we’re not entirely best friends with. When you decide to examine yourself first and decide to accept yourself first, all the good, the bad, the ugly, it’s so much easier to go out and accept everyone else and love other people. You can’t expect to live a life full of love and happiness if you’re not happy with yourself. I think Kinky Boots is so wonderfully simplistic in that sense, it’s not complicated, it’s just that. Just be who you wanna be and everything else will follow.

How does the show compare to the other productions you’ve worked on in the past?

Nyoy: It’s definitely very beautiful to look at. Because of the great dancers that we have in this production, it becomes extra fabulous and amazing. And you know drag queens, they always make it look beautiful. Whatever they get themselves involved in, it always turns into something fabulous.

Mikkie: Kinky Boots is a spectacle, but it’s a spectacle with so much heart. And by that final number, everyone’s dancing on their feet. They’re having fun! It’s a party, but I also see people dancing with tears in their eyes. There’s something so different about the energy of this show and I’m glad I got to see it as an audience member first, because I think that if you’re onstage you have no idea just how much impact it has on people. So I can’t wait to actually be onstage leading this celebration.

Do you expect any new challenges with this new role that you’re going to be playing?

Mikkie: Well, when you’re filling in for someone else, the challenge is always that there’s gonna be something for people to compare you with. Though with Yanah, I feel like we’re each other’s contemporaries, so in a way we’ve always been compared to each other. There’s always the fear of copying. So there’s pressure to bring my own flavor but make it still as successful as Yanah’s portrayal. So there’s pressure to make it my own and still get a response.

For Nyoy, what is the most challenging part of playing Lola?

Nyoy: If not accurate…for my performance to be at least acceptable to society. Because it’s very unforgiving, not just in the LGBT community, but in any community. It’s like when you know how to play basketball, and you watch someone and you know he doesn’t know how to play basketball, di ba parang nakakainis? And that’s just basketball! This is their whole being. This is something they believe in. What you are, what people know you to be, what you’re proud of. If you do it wrong, it’s so offensive. And that’s the hardest part, making sure that you don’t offend anyone by doing it wrong.

What process do you go through to transform into Lola?

Nyoy: Definitely a lot of research. You try to talk to a lot of people with these issues. But being able to be in their shoes, what you do first is you’ll learn about them. And then after that, you try to practice what you just learned. It’s a trial-and-error process. Definitely with something like this, you don’t get it right the first time. It’s a lot of polishing and asking. And the rehearsal process, when we have a month of rehearsing the same thing over and over again, that’s a lot of help. As cheesy as it sounds, practice makes perfect. And it does. It definitely helped me achieve what I was trying to achieve and the rest is history.

Lastly, if you could play any other character in the show, who would it be?

Nyoy: To be honest I wanna be Lauren. I like the cooky, (I do) not know what to do kind of character...that’s why I like that (Mikkie) is doing it para all the ideas that I have (I can share)...kasi you can’t help it eh. So I’m glad I have that with Lauren.

Mikkie: I just wanna be an angel so bad! Because they’re so fabulous and so fun! I tell the angels all the time, “Either I wanna be you or I wanna be best friends with you.” Even my daughter’s a huge fan of the angels. She cried when she first met them, she couldn’t handle the excitement. They have such fun roles to play. They are the energy and the heart of the show, and I don’t think I’ve ever played anything that is outlandishly fun.

(Kinky Boots is staged at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium RCBC Plaza until March 18. For tickets, call Ticketworld at 891-9999 or visit www.ticketworld.com.ph.)