Kinky Boots

I was more than happy to stand in for my colleague, Terry Harrison, to see this company's second production of 'Kinky Boots'. The first one, in February this year, was playing to capacity audiences when a bad storm lifted the tarpaulin from the roof of the theatre, under repair, and caused water damage backstage. The final performance had to be abandoned. There were so many disappointed patrons that the HOPS Committee took the daring step to reprise the show this month - and what an excellent decision it was! Once again, HOPS are playing to packed houses, even opening the balcony - what a marvellous tribute to this iconic musical!

With a book by Harvey Fierstein and score by Cyndi Lauper, this show took both Broadway and the West End by storm, following the original movie of 2005. I do believe that the musical version visibly improves on the movie by adding on more dynamism that offsets the feel-good factor.

You can't beat a true story - an ailing Northampton shoe factory is transformed into a huge success by discovering a niche market of drag queens demanding thigh length red boots - Charlie Price, whose late father owned the factory, meets, by chance a drag queen, Lola, who has problems finding high heeled boots that will take a man's weight without snapping the heel. Charlie makes Lola the project manager for this innovative approach and after some initial problems overcoming prejudice from male factory workers, the boots are made - you might say, the company is rebooted!

HOPS have a wealth of talent in the company to make this production first-class. The Director/Choreographer, Michael Kirkby had plenty of brilliant ideas with regard to staging - which flowed effortlessly throughout and kept up the energy of the entire company. Taking on the role of Lola/Simon, Chris Mooney gave a powerful performance, both in his vocal range and his acting ability - This was also the case with Charlie played by Richard Hawley - the two of them excellent in their solo numbers and the touching duet, 'Not My Father's Son', having both suffered the expectations of their fathers and wanting to go down different career paths. It is unusual to have two male leads, however both Susannah Todd as Charlie's fiance  Nicola and Ruth Graham as Lauren, desperately needy factory worker, were equally brilliant in their roles. I must mention Don, the factory foreman, played by Rob Hastings, who finds it so hard to accept Lola at first - he had some very comic scenes, as did Gavin Mills as George, the factory manager, finding it harder to bring the factory up to date!  Alongside these were Jessica Mooney as Pat, the office manager and Georgie Gladwyn as Trish,  Head Machinist - fine performances here. Dan Stanford as Harry, the local shoe salesman and Simon Littlewood as Richard Bailey the developer who wants to convert the Price factory into apartments, gave fine performances also. In fact, the entire company played their individual roles perfectly, a true team effort.

A group of six drag queens, called Lola's Angels, added to the story and linked scenes - Cha Cha, Mimi, Vixen, Mercedes, Ivana and Cher - to hide their identities, no real names were supplied in the programme, but their singing, dancng and attitude were so good - Ru Paul's Drag race came to mind, but with more talent!!

Alongside Michael as Director were Jim Lunt, as Musical Director, always to be relied on for excellent vocals from company and a great band. The Assistant Choreographer was Sophie Jamshidi.

A feature of HOPS productions is the Creative Team, toiling away behind the scenes, in the capable hands of Steve Graham as Production Manager. Excellent costumes and wigs by Richard Lill and makeup from students of the White Rose Beauty College, added to the professional look of the production.

My admiration for this HOPS production is so high - on one of the hottest days of the year, the company gave this musical 100 percent dedication - and were rewarded by an enthusiastic audience who were won over by the quality of the performances, the verve of staging and in the worship of thigh high red boots (worn by the entire company in the finale!) - which proves - 'there's no business like shoe business'!!!

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