“A heartwarming story and a performance full of energy that will make everyone want to search for a pair of kinky boots of their own.”
Kinky Boots, a musical by Harvey Fierstein based on the 2005 film, which itself is largely based on true events, is the story of a struggling shoe factory that finds a new path to success by manufacturing heels for drag queens. This production, directed by Nikolai Foster, stars Dan Partridge as Charlie Price who has inherited the shoe factory from his late father, with Newtion Matthews as Lola, the drag queen from the Angel club who inspires Charlie to change the direction the factory is heading in. With music by Cyndi Lauper, this is an energetic and fun-filled adaptation of the popular film that does a great job to “raise you up”.
Charlie and Lola both provided excellent performances that beautifully captured the two characters, but in this production every character was fun to watch, with some hilarious moments from the factory workers embracing their new jobs. Performances, especially vocal performances, were excellent across the board. One small criticism was the volume of the band compared to the vocals, making some parts difficult to make out. This also provided quite an abrupt start to both acts, with myself and many others being startled by the sudden music, though the adrenaline from the scare quickly turned into joy at the great performances from the cast.
The staging and costumes were something which I particularly enjoyed about this performance as the glittering red outfits and smoke machine of the Angel club provided a stark contrast to the greys and blues of the factory and its workers. Of course, the iconic red boots took centre stage at many points of the show and I’m sure many in the audience are now shopping for some bright red heeled boots of their own!
Fans of the film may be worried that their favourite moments are lost with the change to a musical but will quickly realise that all the memorable lines and heartfelt moments are not only still present, but delivered well and have the same impact, only now to a new type of audience. Although the music is new to these film fans, it manages to
capture the same atmosphere as the songs used in the film, and is able to highlight aspects of the story that were maybe not noticable before. For example, the use of the child versions of Charlie and Lola really amplify the similarities in their stories – being afraid of disappointing their fathers – while the fourth wall-breaking moments in the Angel club make the audience feel involved with the spectacle in a way that doesn’t have the same impact on screen.
Behind this story of success for the characters is, importantly, a message on acceptance, and particularly about how impactful acceptance of those in the LGBTQ+ community can be for everyone. In an interview about the role, Newtion Matthews spoke about how audience members had been inspired by this production to open up conversations with loved ones about their own identity. The energy of this production, and the strength of this message was something which carried over to the audience, in effect accepting those watching to clap along and join the characters as they lived out their dreams, and hopefully encourage some to pursue dreams of their own.
Kinky Boots play at New Theatre Oxford until 26th July. Tickets are available here.