Kinky Boots

‘Kinky Boots’ is a musical featuring music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein. Inspired by true events, the story follows Charlie Price, who inherits his father’s struggling shoe factory. Charlie forms an unlikely partnership with drag queen, Lola, to create a new range of high-heeled boots. I was very pleased to accept Billboard’s invitation to attend this musical.

The show opened with two cameos from younger members of the company, Sonny Baker and Zack Barnett. They gave great performances as young Charlie and Lola and set the tone for the evening.

Neil Clevett gave an assured performance as Charlie. He was a great actor, showing excellent character throughout the show.

Drag artist Lola was played by Steele Quinnell. He worked hard to establish the larger than life character, whilst walking and dancing in heels for the majority of the show. I enjoyed his rendition of ‘I’m not my fathers son’. He showed off his excellent voice with a range of singing styles throughout the performance. I must add that the ladies sat behind me were extremely envious of his legs!

Lola was often accompanied by her Angels, played by Alex Woodfield, Tailor Wakelam, Amy Coulson, Abbey Stirland, Cai Ingram and Ellie Howe. They worked well together and generally had good energy in everything that they did.

Heather Williams was a touch of class as factory worker Lauren. She had an excellent, comedic character and accent, showing off her powerful vocals in ‘The history of wrong guys’, however I would have preferred a little less reverb and echo from the sound operator. Her voice was more than good enough to stand alone without.

Billboard veteran, Rhys Deans gave a strong performance as bad boy, Don. He was funny and maintained a good character throughout; displaying a strong voice when singing.

There were good cameo performances from the remaining principal cast of Jade Albertides (Nicola), Kayleigh Pirso (Trish), Ceri Goodwin (Pat) and Dean Matthews (George).

The ensemble cast sang and acted well, reacting appropriately during scenes. Occasionally, the live band overpowered the singers, which was a shame.

The set was impressive, if a little big for the stage, meaning that sometimes the full cast scenes felt a little cramped.

The choreography was appropriate for the show and for the cast’s capabilities. ‘Kinky Boots’ is a tough show that requires a high level of energy throughout and for the most part, the cast achieved this. I really enjoyed ‘Everybody say yeah’, at the end of Act One; particularly the hard- working ‘Angels’ on the treadmill-style factory machines. This was very impressive. Good use of lighting helped to complement the movement.

This was my first visit to Billboard as District 4 rep and I look forward to many more visits in the future. Thank you for an entertaining evening!

The views in this report are solely of the author.

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