Kinky Boots

This show starts with one of the workers at Price and Son entering the stage
from the auditorium and informing the audience in no uncertain terms to turn
their phones off and not put them on “vibrate mode”. This was the first
entrance of Dan Fenwick who played the loud-mouthed, self-opinionated Don
who thinks he is god’s gift to any woman around him. Dan was superb in this role
which is nothing like the man behind it and I suspect there were many in the
audience who took an instant dislike to him, Don that is and not Dan.
As the tabs went up we entered what appeared to be a fully working shoe
factory with every type of machinery you can imagine, as we move through the
production everything on stage, both the actors and the props were moved with
precision choreography in order that nothing and no-one moved into anything it
shouldn’t have.
In the factory we meet Mr Price, the factory owner played by David Hookham
who was telling his young son, Charlie all the facts and figures of the shoe
industry. I suspect this was an easy role to play as David’s son was played by his
grandson, Chester Williams, non-the -less both David and Chester were able to
portray their respective characters fully.
With the choreography running smoothly we see young Charlie morphed into the
older Charlie played by Chris Hanlon.
Chris was made for this part; his singing was first rate as was his acting and he
was able to give life to Charlie Price with apparent ease.
As Charlie moves down stage he meets his fiancé, Nicola played by Hayley
Harris, who was able to portray Nicola as a go-getter who is more interested in
monetary things rather than Charlie and when she tells him about the sale of
the factory their relationship ends.

One of the girls in the factory, Lauren has her eyes fixed on Charlie but
realises he is spoken for so doesn’t make any moves on him. When she realises
she actually fancies him she sings The History of Wrong Guys which brings the
house down, Sophie Roddis was superb as Lauren, her singing, dancing and acting
was second to none.
Charlie’s dad passes away and he finds out the factory is not doing as well as he
thought so he decides to meet up with an old pal to offload some shoes.
Before he meets his old pal, however Charlie’s dad’s second in command, George
take him under his wing. Ian Fryer was great in this part and was very much the
“old retainer” in the family.
Also at the factory we see Pat and Trish who both work on the shop floor, Claire
Hookham Williams and Rachel Hirst Marshall both have great comedic timing as
well as great voices which they both put to good use to bring their respective
characters to life.
Charlie’s pal Harry, who’s family also run a shoe factory tells him he should sell
up. Josh Roberts was able to deliver the goods as Harry, he has a fine singing
voice plus is a great actor so has all the ingredients required to portray
Charlie’s mate.
Whilst out after meeting Harry, Charlie has a chance encounter with a drag
queen, although he doesn’t realise this and thinks Lola is a girl. Whilst chatting
to Lola, Charlie realises he is a drag artist and starts to tell him about the shoes
he is wearing which are not made for guys.
Adam Jones was outstanding as Lola, he looked great both as Lola and Simon, his
alter ego, his singing, acting and dancing was equally superb and the combination
of Adam and Chris was impeccable, both being able to bounce off each other.
When they sang Not My Father’s Son together you could hear a pin drop, it was
exquisite.
In Lola’s act she has a troupe of girls who complete her stage act, these are
known as The Angels, who were certainly a bevvy of beautiful ladies, or so they
appeared. Step forward Kyle Walker, Lexie Kenneth, Oliver Hornby, Ellie
Simmons, William Pawson and Connor Brown who could all easily embrace the
stage of any drag show.
I mentioned at the start how we saw the young Charlie Price with his dad, I
failed to mention we also saw a young Lola with his dad who chastised him for

wearing high heeled shoes. Jenson Cooke was excellent as young Lola as was
Anthony Larkin as his dad.
Dee Bennie Marshall really put her choreographic skills to the test with this
production as every piece of scenery and prop was moved smoothly around the
stage mainly by the actors who also moved around smoothly.
The combination of Dee and James Greatorex ensured this production was
enjoyed by everyone who came to see it.
Congratulations to everyone involved.

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