With all the hubbub surrounding Neil Patrick Harris’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch, it’s easy to forget that the Tony Award–sweeping Kinky Boots is still going strong on Broadway. Personally, I’m looking forward to the day when they combine both musicals into one, but some things are just too fantastic to exist in this universe.
While I wait for that dream to come true, Kinky Boots is keeping itself busy with the launch of the Just Be campaign, designed to teach kids to embrace the things they love and do what they can to help out wherever they can.
The ad campaign features six famous fans donning their very own red thigh-highs, each of them using their platform (womp-womp) to promote a charity. Celebrities include Sara Bareilles, for the Rock ’n’ Roll Camp for Girls Los Angeles; Kelly Osbourne, for Prince’s Trust; Josh Groban, for the Find Your Light Foundation; Mario Batali, for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer; Martina Navratilova, for the Humane Society of Greater Miami; and James Earle Jones for The Stuttering Association for the Young.
When it comes to charity, most young people actually do want to help out. Yes, a handful of them tend to be narcissistic turds, but most of them are good people who want to do their part. The problem is most of them have no idea how and desperately need some kind of motivation to get the ball rolling. Encouraging them to develop a sense of self-agency and philanthropy might be one of the more worthwhile causes to come out recently.