Kinky Boots

“Ladies, Gentlemen and those who have yet to make up their mind!” I must thank you so much for an unforgettable evening!

Thank you to Stourbridge Amateur Operatic Society (SAOS) for the kind invitation to watch Kinky Boots tonight and thank you to Bernard Shaw (Secretary of SAOS) for the warm welcome. Bernard remains extremely proud, supportive, positive and encouraging to all members of SAOS and it is always nice to catch up.  

I absolutely loved this production. Packed with wonderful energy and excitement which was delivered in abundance. I joined in with the audience with cheers, gasps, contemplation and then stunned silence!  A special and personal moment for me was wiping away a tiny tear from the corner of my eye during the emotion I felt when Charlie (Tye Harris) made that phone call to Lola (Denzy Davies). It was beautifully acted.

The set was great, the lights and sound were brilliant and there were some great distinctions between the feel of an old shoe factory in Northampton to the glitzy lights of a catwalk in Milan. There were some big scene changes but they seemed effortless with the expert touch of Stage Manager Margaret Taylor and Assistant Stage Manager Jon Simpson heading the backstage crew.

This production was directed with so much quality, inventive touches, love and attention by the talented Adam Partridge with the genius of Emily Bellingham who choreographed an excellent, energetic, exciting, powerful and slick production. The energy flowed throughout Act One leaving the audience craving more. The energy was diverted slightly in Act Two but the acting remained superb.

The story of Kinky Boots follows Charlie Price (Tye Harris) who inherits a shoe factory following the death of his Father (Richard Cope). Charlie is not keen to take over the family business, he had plans to move to London with his fiancé Nicola (Vicky Addis). But coming to the rescue (kind of!) of a drag queen called Lola (Denzy Davies), Charlie is transported into a world of inspiration. Charlie convinces Lola to help him design and sell Kinky Boots to try and save the factory from financial collapse. Lola helps reluctantly at first by joining the factory and “trying to fit in” Charlie and Lola embark on a journey of self-discovery, with the strong theme of acceptance and love; combined with a stunning supportive dynamic cast and incredible music!

Musical Director, Richard Ganner led the talented Orchestra through some incredibly well executed songs. The finale “Raise You Up” brought the house down.

Tye Harris was wonderful as Charlie. A great casting choice, totally believable, with some of his best acting moments when he lost his temper and losing all of his workers of the factory as a consequence. But as I mentioned before the beautifully sincere and wonderfully acted phone call he made to Lola whilst waiting for his plane to Milan was very emotional. He drew out the dialogue with incredible sensitivity and care and in my opinion was the best moment in this play. His singing voice was also great and he powered through some great songs, in particular “The Soul of a Man”.

Denzy Davies who played Lola/Simon radiated a presence which at times took your breath away. He dominated the stage alongside his showgirls (The Angels) with great performances such as the unforgettable “The Land of Lola” “What a Woman Wants” and leading “Sex is in the Heel”. He also showed some skill with his reflective pauses and performed some captivating dance moves where he continued to hold his presence with so much confidence. Tye and Denzy had some great chemistry and supported each other on stage with outstanding attention to detail. Great performers!

The Angels, Jonathon Hunt, Dan Wright, Ben Simpson and Josh Goodwin were also first-class performers and they had all the energy required to keep the pace strong. Some stand-alone moments included, Ben Simpson doing the splits and not just the splits but a high jump and fall into the splits! Dan Wright in the song “In This Corner” totally owned it and had such a great voice. Josh Goodwin had all the moves and totally amazed me how he could perform so well with a massive BLUE bearskin hat on. Finally, Jonathon Hunt totally transformed from his previous performance in Beauty and the Beast. I almost didn’t recognise him!  All four Angels were fantastic. The stage exploded with fun and energy every single time they came onto the stage.

Vicky Addis who played Charlie’s fiancé Nicola had some good presence and even snuck onto stage (undercover) and showed the audience that she is an incredible dancer as well. A special mention to the awesome Hattie Rudge who was an absolute delight playing Lauren and performed “The History of Wrong Guys” with a great comedy awareness and timing. Hattie is a very talented performer with her dancing but she has a great voice as well. Alex Thompson who played Don had moments which reflected some of his insecurities, he got one of the biggest cheers of the night when he entered the stage wearing his Kinky Boots for the first time. Leon Davies (The Chairman of SOAS) played George, again with some wonderful timing, animation, awareness and support to his cast members.

Winning performances from Mark Horne who played Harry, Julia Tromans who played Trish and on this particular evening, Joshua Kendall who played Young Charlie and Teyana Hayman who played Young Lola/Simon.

I was excited to find out that Stourbridge Amateur Operatic Society (SAOS) Youth Company are planning to perform Everybody’s Talking About Jamie on 6-8 July 2023 at Stourbridge Town Hall. This is another cracking show choice and SAOS will no doubt do it justice. This will be one to watch.

Congratulations again to everybody. See you again soon.

 

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