There are some roles performers grow into, and then there are roles that grow with them. For Omari Collins, Lola in Kinky Boots has become exactly that kind of part.
As the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical returns to Chicago's James M. Nederlander Theatre (June 9-21) during Pride Month, Collins is stepping into Lola's boots for the seventh time. The timing matters. So does the city. Kinky Boots first had its world premiere in Chicago in 2012, and for Collins, bringing the show back now feels both personal and purposeful.
"We need this story now more than ever," Collins told GoPride. "Especially during Pride Month here in Chicago. To be that representation up on stage for people who had similar upbringings to myself and Lola, that's what it means to me, just to keep representing and keep living out loud."
O: Omari Collins ( Lola ), Noah Silverman (Charlie); credit: Matthew Murphy.
That sense of visibility is not abstract for him. Collins traces his connection to Lola back to hearing the original cast recording in 2013 and, specifically, hearing Billy Porter's voice. The experience was immediate and life-shifting.
"It was so dynamic to me to hear someone who sounded like me on a Broadway cast recording," he said. "For me, that was such a life-changing moment."
Then came the discovery that cracked the world open even further. "I did my research, and lo and behold, it was like, oh, this is a drag queen, honey," Collins said. "It opened me up to the idea of drag being a career as well as theater."
That journey matters when talking about the Lola he plays now. In addition to his theater work, Collins also performs in drag as Scarlett D. Von'Du, a part of his artistry that has deepened his understanding of the character. When he first played Lola, he said, Scarlett had not fully taken shape yet. Returning to the role after developing that drag persona gave him a richer sense of who Lola is when the spotlight is not just on, but lived in.
"I was able to figure out who this cabaret performer is," he said, adding that it helped him imagine Lola's relationships within the world of the show with more specificity. The result is a performance shaped not only by stagecraft, but by lived queer performance language.
Still, Collins is clear that Lola demands more than charisma. The role requires precision, stamina, and emotional availability, especially across eight performances a week on tour. Asked how he protects both Lola's commanding glamour and her underlying tenderness, he came back to one word: discipline.
"You have to be disciplined in the craft of acting, and you have to commit to the story you're telling every night," he said. "Lola goes on such an emotional journey throughout the show, and having to do that eight times a week, you could really get bogged down in that."
His solution is balance, commitment, and plenty of rest. Offstage, he looks for levity. Onstage, he gives himself over fully to the work.
That commitment is part of why Collins believes Kinky Boots still lands so powerfully with audiences across the country. Pride Month may be associated with celebration, but Collins knows queer life cannot be reduced to joy alone. What he sees in theaters, whether in major cities or smaller markets, is a deeper kind of recognition.
"It's really going to strike a chord and resonate with these people, and they're going to feel seen and lifted up and empowered to go out into their everyday lives and just live out loud," he said.
Company of Kinky Boots National Tour; credit: Matthew Murphy
Even after years of the show's popularity, Collins does not believe audiences have seen everything Lola can be. He speaks about the character with reverence for what came before, while also making a confident case for what he brings to the role now.
"Many a diva has tried to fill the boots, but you've never seen a diva like this diva," he said with a laugh. Then he sharpened the point. "Billy Porter gave the bones to Lola, but it's on me to put the flesh on her."
For Collins, that means a Lola who is not just dazzling, but grounded. "She is larger than life. She is fully out there and living loud, but she is still a real, grounded-in-reality person," he said.
That grounding also shows up in the moments that hurt. After playing Lola so many times, Collins said one scene now lands differently than it once did: the late-show exchange with Lola's father. "It was good to see you. I love you," he says in the scene, and the line, he admitted, carries more weight now because of his own life and family relationships.
That emotional maturity has reshaped what success in the role means to him. It is no longer just about applause, vocal power, or delivering a star turn. It is about impact.
Omari Collins ( Lola ) and Noah Silveman (Charlie Price); credit: Matthew Murphy
"Success in this role to me means touching people's lives and making sure that they leave feeling empowered," Collins said. "That means I've done my job."
That mix of joy, vulnerability, and hard-won empowerment is exactly what Collins is carrying into Chicago as Kinky Boots returns to the James M. Nederlander Theatre for a limited engagement June 9 through 21. Featuring a Tony-winning score by Cyndi Lauper, a book by Harvey Fierstein, and the musical's beloved story of unlikely connection and radical self-acceptance, the show's homecoming arrives with built-in history. In Collins' hands, it also arrives with renewed humanity.
Omari Collins “Scarlett D. Von’Du”
Ticket Information and Broadway in Chicago
KINKY BOOTS returns to Chicago for a limited two-week engagement at Broadway In Chicago’s James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., June 9–21. Individual tickets are on sale now and range from $49 to $126, with a select number of premium tickets available. Prices listed reflect in-person box office purchases; additional fees apply for online orders. For tickets and more information, visit BroadwayInChicago.com.
Broadway In Chicago, a Nederlander Presentation, has been a major force in the Chicago Theater District since its creation in July 2000. Over the past 26 years, it has grown into one of the country’s largest commercial touring homes, entertaining up to 1.7 million people annually. The organization presents a wide range of Broadway musicals, plays and theatrical productions across five of Chicago’s premier venues: the Cadillac Palace Theatre, CIBC Theatre, James M. Nederlander Theatre, The Auditorium, and the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place.