#BrumHour was invited to the press night of Kinky Boots by Birmingham Hippodrome.
By Dave Massey twitter.com/BrumHour
Kinky Boots at Birmingham Hippodrome
Book by Harvey Fierstein, Music and Lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, Choreography and Directed by Jerry Mitchell
Put on your highest heels and strut your way down to Birmingham Hippodrome before 23rd March for the glamest musical in Birmingham. Kinky Boots is in town for two weeks.
Charlie (Joel Harper-Jackson) and his fiancee Nicola (Helen Ternent) have just moved to London and Charlie receives a call to say his father has passed away leaving Charlie in charge of the family shoe-making factory in Northampton. Charlie discovers that the business is facing very tough times.
In London, Charlie stops a drag queen called Lola (Kayi Ushe) from being beaten up in a fight. He finds himself in Lola’s club afterwards and discovers Lola keeps breaking her drag heels and feels his shoe-making factory might have a solution. However the factory is traditionally a men’s shoe maker. But now its time to fight for their survival.
Kinky Boots is a drama with plenty of natural humour to be found, interspersed with a dozen musical numbers written by Cyndi Lauper. At 2 hours and 20 minutes this is a production slightly longer than I was expecting, packed with plot and music that progresses our characters it races on by. This is a multi-award winning Broadway musical, based upon a British film which itself is based upon a true story.
It’s working class roots and aspirational values make it a warm, cheeky and easy to watch show, that manages to tackle many different serious subjects, from men being accepted and rejected by their fathers to their peers and community accepting them. There’s also threads of taking responsibility and making commitments.
Mainly set in the factory and nightclub the stage also becomes a catwalk and a boxing ring.
Strong characters in this mix come in the form of Lauren (Paula Lane – Corrie’s Kylie Platt) and Don (Demitri Lampra) who both go on their own great character journeys.
This is a fantastic show, great music, interesting characters and lots to keep you wondering about the outcome, I loved Kinky Boots from start to finish!
Kinky Boots is at Birmingham Hippodrome until Saturday 23rd March, book tickets here: birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/kinky-boots
This isn’t a sponsored post.
When not blogging theatre for #BrumHour, Dave Massey can be found eating crisps and claiming to be at the gym. And tweeting about Birmingham.
