Broadway is receiving a newcomer, but he is no stranger to the stage! Panic! At The Disco’s Brendon Urie will be making his Broadway debut in the Tony Award winning musical “Kinky Boots.” Urie said in a statement to Playbill.com “I am thrilled to be making my Broadway debut with this fantastic company. I’m a huge fan of Kinky Boots and musical theatre and I am honored to be joining this cast.” Urie will be beginning his debut on May 26 through August 6 at the Al Hirschfeld Theater.

 

Urie will play Charlie Price, the protagonist who inherits his father's failing shoe factory and partners with a drag queen named Lola (played by J. Harrison Ghee) to produce a line of high-heeled boots that help save the company. “Kinky Boots” is based on the 2005 British movie of the same name and debuted on Broadway in 2013. Lauper wrote the music and the lyrics, while Harvey Fierstein wrote the book. The production won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score for Lauper.

 

The role of Charlie Price calls for a very high tenor voice who is able to belt in the style of pop. Anyone who knows the music of Panic! At The Disco can tell you that Brendon Urie is a perfect fit for the vocal part. It is uncertain what kind of acting ability Urie will bring to the table, and if it is destined to receive any criticism, I believe that this is the area that it would sprout from.

 

This is another move by Broadway to bring in famous vocalists to play leading roles in theatrical productions. Recently, singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles took over the role of Jenna Hunterson in “Waitress.” Bareilles wrote the music for “Waitress,” so taking on the lead role seemed only fitting, but to bring in Brendon Urie who has no creative connection to “Kinky Boots” is certainly interesting. This kind of casting also occurred with the debut of Carly Rae Jepsen in Cinderella. As seen in the success of shows such as “Hamilton,” fans are willing to pay exorbitant amounts of money for a ticket to see their favorite singers, actors etc. “Hamilton” tickets had ranged from five hundred dollars to several thousands of dollars per ticket. If that wasn’t expensive enough, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s final “Hamilton” performance in New York City had tickets priced at around twenty thousand dollars a piece.

Urie is sure to bring in a large amount of revenue to the company with his already established fame. Die hard Panic! At The Disco fans are sure to dip into their life savings for a chance to see Urie in this new element of live theatre.