by Gwen Coburn. @sadgrlsongsgwen.
TRENTON, NJ – Local shoe Cara Comfort 85 T-Strap spends their days walking on the sturdy carpets in the law offices of Kormel, Kormel, and Minton. In spite of their sensible career as an everyday working shoe, Cara admits they sometimes wish they had pursued their first love: Broadway.
“I remember the first time I saw the Rockettes’ silver LaDucas. I thought, they have T-Straps just like me!” explained Cara, who is only 2.5” tall according to the Steve Madden box they came in. “It was that moment that started my dream of treading the boards on the Great White Way. Of course, I quickly realized I was less of a dance shoe and more of a movement shoe. My parents were penny-loafers; they never really ‘got’ the whole show-shoe business thing.”
The Clarks High-Arch Sandal, Cara’s closet-mate, thinks the pump is underselling herself.
“It’s sad to see them tiptoeing around their dreams” said the shoe, which is supportive in multiple ways.“Cara’s really talented. "I saw them in the Trenton Community Playhouse’s production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and they were riveting as Maggie’s shoes. Glamorous, scrappy, and by the end, totally broken in. The audience was in tears.”
Capezio’s Mary Jane Tap Flat, a Broadway veteran, had a more realistic take.
“Every tan three-incher with a buckle thinks they’ll make it big, become a fancy pair of LaDuca boots in Head Over Heels, but the truth is even most LaDucas are worn out after one national tour. You gotta be both flexible and tough as nails. Me? I’m a hardened old heel. I just keep on tapping, but it’s a sole-killing business.”
In spite of the odds, the workplace heel still holds onto their old acting hopes.
“You never know. One day a famous costumer could walk into Kormel, Kormel, and Minton and say ‘Let’s get those shoes on stage!', you know, after they do all their law stuff."