Kinky boots are women’s shoes in men’s sizes for transgender people.
This multi-award-winning musical very loudly and unapologetically celebrates gay culture and drag, full of respect and acceptance, championing equality and friendship.
A family shoe factory in Northampton is facing bankruptcy and forced to sack workers. The young boss discovers there is a niche market for erotic footwear and decides to make thigh-high boots for drag queens. He joins forces with Lola, a flamboyant drag queen.
The book is by Harvey Fierstein and based on a true story. There was a BBC documentary on TV in 1999 and a film with Chiwetel Ejiofor in 2005.
Kinky Boots the Musical originally premiered in New York in 2013 and in London in 2015.
The music and lyrics are by Cyndi Lauper, and the songs include Sex is in the Heel, Not My Father’s Son and Everybody Say Yeah.
There was a time when theatre audiences only saw artists in drag in pantomimes at Christmas. Danny La Rue changed everything. He brought glamour and stagecraft, attracting wide audiences on stage and television. Drag musicals are popular.
Nikolai Foster’s slick high-heeled revival has lots of movement and verve, but the storyline and characterisation are weak and emotionally uninvolving. The lyrics are not always audible.
What the show does have is the charismatic Strictly Come Dancing star Johannes Radebe making his stage debut. He struts the stage in a variety of costumes, some more fab than others. He’s Lola. Matt Cardle is the decent factory boss.
The audience was extremely enthusiastic.
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