Kinky Boots' Billy Porter on His 'Amaaaazing' Audience Choice Award Win for Favorite Actor in a Musical

Everybody did say yeah when Kinky Boots star Billy Porter picked up the Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for Favorite Actor in a Musical for his role as Lola in the rocking new tuner. Broadway.com caught up with the leading man after his win to find out how he was feeling on his big night.

"It feels amaaaazing! It’s my first time in a Broadway musical in 13 years and it’s nice that the audience is responding." Porter said his emotional acceptance came from a very special place. "The fans are holding us in their hearts, and that is the most beautiful thing. You can't take these heels off of me."

The night was made even more extraordinary for Porter as his Kinky Boots creators Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper scooped up the award for Favorite New Musical. "You know, what I really want is to make sure that the show runs. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether we win or not—what matters is that we keep selling tickets and that fans keep coming because momma needs a couple of houses."

So why does Porter find the Audience Choice Award, which is voted on by the fans, to be the most smashing award of all? "The fans are always the point. Yes, there are critics and there are other awards and blah blah blah, but if nobody’s buying tickets—it doesn’t matter. You can win all the awards in the world, but if it’s not connecting with the people—it don’t matter."

Keep checking back on Broadway.com for full coverage of the Audience Choice Awards!