Brandon Urie Black and White Pictures to Draw

When I went to see Panic! at the Disco frontman Brendon Urie in Kinky Boots, there were two teenaged girls seated in front of me and two women in their mid-fifties sitting next to me. Thanks to a little eavesdropping, I discerned that my neighbors were regular theater-goers who were particularly excited to see the stage production of one of their favorite movies. As for the girls in front of me, their Panic! At the Disco t-shirts were a dead giveaway; they later told me it was their first ever Broadway show.

Watching the reactions of both pairs was pretty special; it felt like two worlds colliding. And that's the particular draw of Urie, who plays Charlie Price, the reluctant heir to a shoe factory, and his unquestionable star power. According to Variety, Kinky Boots—which opened in 2013—saw a 40 percent bump in sales after the Panic! singer joined the cast in May.

I sat down with him to talk dancing in heels, Cyndi Lauper (who wrote the show's score), and how Broadway is influencing his rock-star side. Plus, in the video above, see everything Brendon Urie can do better than you...in heels.

What has been most surprising about performing on Broadway?

I was so terrified to jump into this world, to be honest, a world I was so unfamiliar with, as an outsider looking in. But meeting everyone, it feels like a family—it was bizarre. I trust these people to point me in the right direction, to push me as far as I can go, and it's been amazing.

Have you always wanted to be on Broadway?

I have. As a kid I wanted to do that. I would constantly watch musicals at home, whether it was The Sound of Music or Les Misérables or something like that. That was the only thing I was allowed to watch on Sundays. It was so fun to be able to jump into this world after being a fan for so long. It's surreal. It hasn't really hit me. I had a few days off to let it soak in, but I don't think it fully will until I leave.

Brendon Urie after his

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Has 'Kinky Boots' influenced you as an artist outside of the show?

Oh, definitely. Broadway singing is so different than what I've taught myself to do in the last decade. They have this thing called "middle belt," and I didn't even know what that was. I just take my chest voice and push it up into my head. I've just learned this now, after a decade of doing it wrong. I have such a bigger respect now for Broadway and the people who perform it, and have to sing and run around. The first day after my first show I woke up covered in bruises. My muscles were so sore and I was out of breath from just waking up.

This is not your first time dancing in heels, right?

When I was young, six or seven years old, we had a dress-up box. Me and my siblings would always be making home videos, and we'd write little sketch comedies and do a little film. They were constantly dressing me up in dresses and heels.

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What parts of yourself do you have to strip away to play Charlie Price?

We were running through a couple of songs in rehearsals, and I was doing them like I would as a rock guy from my band. DB, the associate director, was like, "Okay, it's great but Charlie's not that cool." Charlie doesn't have tattoos, Charlie is a little Magoo. I'm playing a character. I don't get to just make the persona, like I do with my band. I'm committed to this guy and that's just the craziest thing for me—losing myself in a scene, taking that confidence away, and being a bumbling idiot for a bit.

Broadway has kind of toughened me up a little bit.

How do you think this experience will change you?

We just had a show away with my band, and Broadway has kind of toughened me up a little bit. Eight shows a week—it's a grueling schedule, and it's kind of built up stamina for me. The other night my band did a show–I had the night off from Kinky Boots–I felt great. I walked out on stage, did a 90-minute set, and I wasn't as tired as I usually was. And I was like, this is a good thing, it's a good workout for tour.

What's it like to hang out with Cyndi Lauper?

The first time I met her, we set up a brunch. They put me in a booth. I was really early, maybe ten minutes, and I see this gorgeous lady walk in with the coolest hair and the coolest dress and jewelry. And she just walks over and gives me the biggest hug like we've been friends for years. Immediately I was like, "I love her. I already love her."

She's the warmest individual, and it's so cool to just talk to her about music, and not just the play, but music in general. You're talking rock and disco and all kinds of stuff, and being able to do that with each other and compare and contrast what's different...It felt so natural. She's so easy to talk to and so warm, and it's great.

Did she give you any advice?

I have been working with her vocal coach. [ In a Cyndi Lauper impression] "Broadway's really tough."

I started doing all these exercises, which saved me. All of the talking really tires your voice out with the big numbers that you're holding, these huge notes. She's so funny. And just the most amazing woman. She has the most cartoony voice, it's so cute.

I guess we're bringing the concert scene to the Broadway scene.

Have you noticed a lot of Panic! fans in the audience?

I didn't know what it was going to be like. The associate director and producers were kind of prepping me and said, "Hey, we should talk about when you first walk on stage and they'll cheer." And I said, "I don't think so dude, it's Broadway." But when I walked on stage, there was a huge rumble and applause, and it was like, "Whoa. Okay." I guess we're bringing the concert scene to the Broadway scene. It's taken time to adjust, but it's been so amazing. The energy is so real, and the cast has been so excited about it. It's been so wild.

Brendon Urie will appear in Kinky Boots at the Al Hirschfeld Theater until August 6.

Emily Tannenbaum Entertainment Editor Emily is the entertainment editor at Cosmopolitan, which is a nice way of saying she watches way too much TV and constantly wants to tell you about it.

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Brandon Urie Black and White Pictures to Draw

Source: https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/a46575/panic-at-the-disco-brendon-urie-kinky-boots-broadway/

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