LOS ANGELES — A good musical, like a good heel, will lift you up and so will spending a few minutes with Yurel Echezarreta.

Yurel plays one of Lola’s Angels in the Hollywood Bowl production of “Kinky Boots,” the first fully staged musical to be presented at the storied location since 2019. 

“To be an Angel in ‘Kinky Boots’ is like to be the party of the party,” Echezarreta said.

It’s a role that requires a lot of talents, singing, dancing, and, let’s face it, balance.

“Crack-a-lack!” he cried, holding up a broken boot, the stiletto heel dangling from the sole. “Look how hard they stomp the yard.”

Echezarreta may not don the signature fire red thigh high footwear, which he describes as “a tall, gorgeous drink of water,” but he has his fair share of fun. Four wigs, and six costume changes, each with matching sky-high shoes.

This is his first time performing at the Bowl. Heck, it’s his first time stepping foot in the Bowl. But it’s hardly his first time stepping out in a pair of heels. In fact, he highly recommends them.

“Putting on heels like this, everything changes,” he said, his body immediately posing a little differently. “Your whole demeanor. It’s like your body language changes. You get sassy. So you can’t help it. It totally elevates you … pun intended.”

The musical doesn’t just raise spirits, it raises awareness and director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell says it’s even more important now than it was when the show originally opened on Broadway in 2013.

“The musical really has this lesson about accepting yourself so you can accept other people,” Mitchell explained. “I think that’s a good lesson for all of us to think about.”

This is Mitchell’s return to the Bowl, having directed Hairspray here in 2011. But it was actually during a family vacation to Southern California when he was 5 that he fell in love with the venue.

“We actually took a tour of the Hollywood Bowl,” he recalled. “Who would have thought that a 5-year-old would be back directing and choreographing?”

Also back, Wayne Brady. It’s been six years since he last played Lola on Broadway and having just turned 50, he wasn’t sure he could handle her demands. Still, when he got the call to get back into the red dress and titular heels, he said yes immediately.

“Fifty is the new 30, so that’s why I’m prancing about in the boots showing the kids how to do it,” he said.

He loves performing at the Bowl — comparing it to Carnegie Hall in terms of prestige — but mostly he is honored and grateful to bring the show’s message to 17,000 people every night.

“Seventeen thousand. Say it again,” he purred. “I love that.” 

He called out places in the country, including his hometown of Orlando, that could learn a thing or two from Kinky Boots.

“This show is so needed right now. Like at this specific second,” Brady said. “It’s about acceptance. It’s about every single person deserves, needs and wants love and respect and that’s the bare minimum.”

That message is the real star of the show, and Echezarreta just wants to help it shine.

“This show once again just shows the importance of being able to be authentically yourself and shining bright,” he said. It’s not something everyone feels safe doing, even today, although he said great strides have been made, especially when it comes to discussions of gender.

“It’s good there’s an awakening, but there’s always that pull backward,” he said, which is why reminders like this are needed. Onstage and off, he says it’s vital that we keep moving forward, “not only for ourselves in the world but those coming up in the world.”

For those coming up, for those growing up and for those stepping up in to whatever shoes make them stand a little taller.