Kinky Boots –

A musical about shoes……. as a shoe adoring musical theatre fan I have been waiting for Kinky Boots to hit the West End for what feels like forever. In reality it was probably since 2013 when Kinky Boots won the Tony award for best musical!! Luckily I was not disappointed.

For those of you not familiar with the movie or the show, Kinky Boots is the story of Charlie Price who is left running Price & Sons, a shoe factory in Northampton, following the death of his father. Unfortunately the Price & Sons is struggling until Charlie meets Lola, a drag queen who’s stiletto heels can’t keep up with her! Charlie takes on the task of designing and manufacturing boots for a whole new clientele which in turn challenges Charlie and his employees to consider how they treat and perceive others.

Firstly – OMG those shoes. One of the numbers is ‘The Most Beautiful Thing In the World’ and yes they are singing about shoes!!! The costume department in this show is fabulous – I’m just waiting for the boots to make their way onto the merchandise stand.

In my eyes Lola, played by Matt Henry stole the show (after the boots themselves of course). Not only did he dance in heels with such gusto that he looked like he was born in them but he portrayed a huge range of emotion with unwavering conviction. You couldn’t help but warm to Henry’s Lola – she had sass oozing out of every poor yet in the more intimate scenes the vulnerability was clear and tender.

Killian Donnelly played Charlie Price, in theory the main protagonist in the show. The premise of his character is that of an ordinary man so when contrasted with the fabulous Lola, with the witty lines and the difficult childhood it is no surprise that Henry steals the show. As always Killian’s vocals didn’t falter although at times his accent, especially when singing didn’t always sound convincing and more mid-Atlantic than it should have.

I also found Amy Lennox as Lauren so funny, her number The History of Wrong Guys had me in stitches. I particularity loved the angels, a group of 6 guys in heels and fabulous costumes. They had legs that would make many supermodels envious and could not only dance in heels but flip and dance on a conveyor belt!! Every time they appeared on stage the show went up a notch in energy.

Talking of conveyor belts the end of Act 1, ‘Everybody Sat Yeah,’ was a highlight for me – the choreography by Jerry Mitchell in this number is fun and fast, pitched just right to leave the audience on a high for the interval. The tender numbers in the show such as ‘Not My Fathers Son,’ were nice and gave some depth to the story but the high energy, all singing, all dancing (in heels) numbers were the highlights for me.

Kinky Boots does at times try to ram the message home of tolerance and acceptance but if that is taken with a pinch of salt and you sit back and enjoy the fabulousness of it all then you can’t help but leave the theatre grinning from ear to ear.

Kinky Boots in on at the Adelphi Theatre and is currently booking until February 2016. Tickets can be brought here.