Cyndi Lauper's 'Kinky Boots' delivers plenty of kicks at the Orpheum

"Kinky Boots" is an entertaining delight.

Composed by "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" singer Cyndi Lauper, the celebrated Broadway musical opened a highly anticipated weeklong stay Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis.

If the production often leaves a viewer grinning from ear to ear, it's mostly because of its cast — especially the extraordinary lead performance by Kyle Taylor Parker as Lola, a London drag queen.

In a chance meeting involving hoodlums in the dark, Lola meets Charlie Price (Steven Booth), a twenty-something square who has reluctantly taken over his family's shoe factory. The plant is threatened with closing — or worse, conversion to hipster condos — unless Charlie can come up with a new product to save the business.

Enter Lola, who needs sturdy but fabulous boots for her Angels drag revue.

Based on director Julian Jarrold's 2005 film, "Boots" has a book by Harvey Fierstein, who has built a virtual cottage industry of drag as both writer and performer ("La Cage aux Folles," "Casa Valentina," "Hairspray"). Fierstein offers a few surprises in a script that otherwise is predictable.

We learn that both Charlie and Lola have daddy issues, and a desire to be accepted for who they really are. The show also takes a few stabs at exploring issues of masculinity.

Parker is a master of the stage who can, with a wink, command a room. He has charisma to spare and his performance is precise, pitch-perfect and revelatory, showing us both Lola's power and her insecurities.

Booth's Charlie is the straight man in this scenario, and the actor puts his two left feet proudly forward. He also has a big, unexpected showstopper that he pulls off with aplomb.

The cast also includes Joe Coots as Don, a macho man who works at the factory and is Lola's nemesis; Lindsay Nicole Chambers as Lauren, who works at the factory and has the hots for Charlie, and Grace Stockdale as Nicola, Charlie's driven girlfriend who wants him to sell the business and move to London. They acquit themselves fairly well in a cast that had pitch issues.

Directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, the show won six Tonys, including best musical and one for Lauper's score. A mix of 1980s pop and electronic dance music, it's bouncy but far from memorable.

As I was leaving the theater, I was searching for something to sing to keep the good feeling going. But a pleased smile was all I had by the time I hit the sidewalk.