Jacob Butler and Jonathan Studdard are running it back one more time.
Butler and Studdard are returning to the same roles in the cast of “Kinky Boots” for a different theater group.
The two will perform in Civic Theatre’s Oct. 4-19 production at The Tarkington at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. The friends were in Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s presentation in 2022.
Butler, a Lawrence resident, plays Charlie Price, who has reluctantly inherited his father’s shoe factory, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. Lola, a drag queen, played by Fishers resident Studdard, tries to help him.
“I love doing this role,” Butler said. “It’s a lot of fun for me. It’s the Cyndi Lauper music and the right vocals and getting to do those. There’s a lot of meat to dig into in the show.”
Butler said it’s a timely show during a heated political season.
“Getting to share the message of getting to know your neighbor, getting to know the people around you and not judging them before you know them is a great message to share right now,” he said. “This show is a little out of left field for the normal shows in town.”
Butler said he thinks the Beef & Boards audiences didn’t initially know what to expect.
“But once they came and saw us, they were rocking out in their seats,” Butler said. “They were smiling all the time like they were engaged in (the message) we were trying to share.”
Butler said he originally thought he was going to be too busy to do the show, but Studdard convinced him otherwise.
Butler and Studdard were previously in Civic’s production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
Studdard made his first Beef & Boards appearance in “Kinky Boots.”
“So, I felt very pressured because I wanted to do well,” Studdard said. “Their runs are typically a lot longer than our runs, so we did 52 shows in comparison to the eight we do here. The rehearsal period is shorter, two weeks instead of seven weeks, so that made me a bit nervous.”
Studdard, 29, said there are a lot of things that can happen in a person’s life in two years and he hopes to bring those personal experiences to his acting.
“I’m really excited to have fun,” Studdard said. “Civic has always been home to me, so I’m really excited to take a dip in Lola’s waters again and close out my theater performance journey with ‘Kinky Boots’ because I got a new job I really love, but this takes me away from performing.”
Studdard, who is director of operations for the Indiana State Museum and historical sites, said “Kinky Boots” will be his final show for the foreseeable future.
Caroline Sanchez, a Carmel resident, said she always wanted to perform in “Kinky Boots.”
“I hadn’t seen the show, but I really liked the songs,” said Sanchez, who plays the role of Trish. “I hadn’t done a musical in a very long time, so I just was really excited to get to sing and dance again.”
Sanchez said her biggest challenge is the singing and dancing parts.
“I’m a big Shakespeare and straight play actor,” Sanchez said.
Carmel resident Tommy McConnell, 11, plays the role of young Charlie. A Clay Middle School sixth-grader, he has performed previously in Junior Civic shows.
“I like performing with the adults,” he said. “The show really sends a good message of accepting others for who they are and celebrating our differences.”
For more, visit civictheatre.org.
