Katy Perry could have filled New York City's Al Hirschfeld Theatre with her tears on Wednesday, May 1 — and she nearly did. The "Part of Me" singer, 28, was apparently so moved by the Broadway musical Kinky Boots that she broke down in sobs at the end of the show, the New York Post's Page Six reports.
Perry, who recently split from on-again, off-again boyfriend John Mayer, reportedly told her handlers she needed some time to "compose herself" before meeting her idol, Cyndi Lauper, who wrote the music and lyrics for the Tony-nominated production. (Harvey Fierstein wrote the book.)
"She was crying so hard she thought she lost an eyelash," a source told Page Six. Lauper apparently spotted the pop star backstage and offered her a tissue. "Honey, I keep these on me at all times," the gossip column quotes her as saying. "I've been crying nonstop all week."
“She walked back stage and had tears streaming down her face!" Kinky Boots cast member (and Perry doppelganger) Celina Carvajal tells Us Weekly. "When she tried to tell us how much she loved the show she would start to well up again. She had to turn away and grab a tissue and kept apologizing to us. She loved the show's message and found it touching. She had the best reaction I've seen so far."
Perry, for her part, admitted on Twitter to breaking down after the show, explaining that she was overcome with emotion after the musical.
"Just saw KINKY BOOTS on Broadway & cried w/joy from its powerful, beautiful message," she tweeted. "Congrats on every of its deserved 13 Tony nominations! If Billy Porter doesn't win the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical…there will be words…Trust."
Based on the true story behind the 2005 film of the same name, Kinky Boots tells the story of a struggling shoemaker who turns to making custom fetishism footwear for men, which leads to an unlikely friendship with a drag queen named Lola. The show currently leads the pack in Tony Award nominations for 2013, with nods in 13 categories, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Actor and Featured Actress for stars Billy Porter, Stark Sands, and Annaleigh Ashford.
