(seen on 8th August 2022)
The Cyndi Lauper / Harvey Fierstein show for ladies, gentlemen and those who have yet to make up their minds receives another airing after a successful 1400 performance run from 2015-19 at London's Adelphi Theatre.
This is the true story of a venerable Northampton family-owned shoe manufacturing company. Facing closure in 1993 due to cheap imports, they moved into producing specialist ladies’ boots for men who found the real things couldn’t keep up with their lifestyles. The factory finally did close in 2000, but it leaves behind an inclusive musical about life and love.
Unlike last week’s “Chess”, which has had several ‘concert version’ productions, “Kinky Boots” is an unknown quantity in the format, and the result is convincingly positive.
It is particularly interesting to note first how very different this show is from the “mega-musical” 1980s era. “Chess” received a lavish and brash concert on the same stage, befitting its vast storytelling scale and thumping pop score.
By the 2010s, shows had become more intimate, more personal – and so “Kinky Boots” is performed on a smaller scale all round. Gone are the sweeping staircases and hoard of backing dancer-vocalists. In its place are a carefully curated cast with a wonderful half-dozen 'Angel' Drag Queens to light up the big scenes.
Joel Harper-Jackson returns to repeat last week’s “Chess” triumph. This time he plays Charlie Price, inheritor of the failing company. His versatility is in no doubt, a young man making many mistakes on a very long road to understanding himself and finding a place in a world he previously rejected.
His teacher is the flamboyant Simon from Clacton, better known by her Drag Queen name of Lola. Cedric Neal actually stops the show with “Hold Me In Your Heart,” having spent much of the preceding two hours flouncing, quipping and quietly inspiring all around him.
Connecting them, undiscovered bright factory spark Lauren gives Courtney Bowman her second summer hit character after Elle Woods at Regent’s Park. Less daffy than her predecessors, and more intuitive, her “History of Wrong Guys” is both moving and touching.
Also finding something new in her character is Daisy Wood-Davis as Charlie’s fiancée Nicola. Breaking through the simplistic and unfeminist ‘bitch’ label, we see an ambitious young woman who cannot let anything stop her leaving what she sees as a provincial backwater for a different life.
Behind the leads is a supporting cast strong enough to challenge for leading roles in future. Sean Needham as Don - the rough and tough leatherworker receiving a surprise education - is well illustrated. The boxing sequence is a triumph thanks to Needham’s skills.
Referee and Angel Ashley Samuels also takes advantage of the match moment to shine, with a second opportunity at the finale fashion show.
Notes too for Kayleigh McKnight’s forthright, randy Trish and her gang Marge (Madison Swan), Gemma Louise (Hannah Lowther) and Pat (Nikki Bentley). A neat trio, from whom clever factory engineer George (Duane Gooden) no doubt suffers lively times.
As last week, the London Musical Theatre Orchestra and London Musical Theatre Chorus are on hand to provide rich musical and vocal support. Director Omar F. Okai manages to make cuts to the piece which leave the story itself clear even without the longer scenes of the full production.
A little help from Ben Cracknell’s multi-coloured light beams assist also in switching between Lola’s rainbow coloured world and the more down to earth life of manufacturing.
“Kinky Boots” may not have yielded a significant global hit song, but it is a score full of meaningful numbers. Stripped of elaborate staging and put in the hands of gifted West End performers, they prove to be red enough to satisfy even the most discriminating seeker of shiny delights, tubular or otherwise.
Something very interesting is certainly happening at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane this August. The journey through three eras of musical theatre via three shows will end in two weeks with the brand-new "Treason" in concert. The monkey is looking forward to it.
4 stars.