Harvey Fierstein on Sobriety, Quilting, and Kinky Boots Revival

Harvey Fierstein, the 73-year-old five-time Tony winner, discusses his career, addiction, and current projects in an interview at Cotton Candy Fabrics quilt store in Connecticut. He took up quilting in 2009, partly inspired by the Names Project Aids Memorial Quilt, and has since created numerous pieces, including an LGBTQ+ rights quilt. Fierstein, who has been sober for 29 years after a suicide attempt in 1996, now spends 10-hour days writing or quilting, working on a book about quilting. A revival of Kinky Boots, for which he wrote the book, has just opened at the London Coliseum, starring Johannes Radebe, running until July 11. A new off-Broadway production of La Cage aux Folles, starring Billy Porter, opens in June. Fierstein received a lifetime achievement award at the 2025 Tonys, though his speech was not broadcast. He continues to speak out against Trump, particularly regarding the ban on drag performers at the Kennedy Center. He reflects on his early success with Torch Song Trilogy, which won Tony awards in 1983, and his subsequent film roles in Mrs Doubtfire and Independence Day. Fierstein came out to his parents as a teenager and has been an openly gay advocate for LGBTQ+ rights for over 50 years.