KInky Boots walks onto the stage in Sydney!

Kinky Boots the Musical is based on the UK 2005 movie Kinky Boots that was inspired by a true story. It first was staged on Broadway in 2013 and walked onstage in Melbourne late last year to much acclaim. It opened in Sydney last week and is heading to Brisbane later this year.

Kinky Boots is about a struggling working class shoe factory Northampton. Charlie Price reluctantly inherits the shoe factory when his father dies. Unless he comes up with a miracle plan, Charlie will have to lay off all the staff and close the shoe factory.

The miracle comes about when Charlie meets Lola, a drag queen. Lola suggests that instead of making boring shoes, the factory change and make out-there sexy stiletto-heeled boots for drag queens. Charlie asks Lola to join the factory staff as the boot designer.

The standout star of the show is Callum Francis as Lola, a drag queen entertainer. He absolutely makes Kinky Boots the hit smash musical that it is. Either as a woman or man, he puts all of himself into his role as Lola. I came to know him as a person, and appreciated his joys and struggles as the show progressed. His voice adapts wonderfully well from very deep to very shrill depending on the scene. Callum previously was in the UK production of Kinky Boots.

Toby Francis, as Charlie Price, does an adequate job as the factory boss. Unfortuantely the structure of the musical does not give him the opportunity to show his true depth of character. His strong tenor voice suits the songs he sings.

The supporting cast of factory worker characters are hard at work in the shoe factory most of the time, but unfortunately we do not really get to know them. Two workers that do feature are Sophie Wright as Lauren (a factory worker who falls for Charlie) and Joe Kosky as Don (an opinionated blokey factory worker who fights Lola in a well choreographed boxing scene).

Lola’s drag queen troupe, the Angels, are terrific. These 6 guys are flamboyant as they sing and dance on stage in their wigs, costumes and high heels. Thy give Kinky Boots the oomph that it needs.

I was excited to learn that Cyndi Lauper, the well known 1980's pop icon, wrote the music for Kinky Boots. I was disappointed that her well known songs "True Colours", "Time After Time" and "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" were not a part of the musical. Instead, all the songs are original ones she wrote over a period of several years just for the musical. These range widely in style, from pop, pub folk, rock, disco, tango dance, to ballad. These varied song styles are a plus, but can also be seen as a minus, as they make the musical a bit disjointed.

I had difficulty discerning some of the words of some of the solo and group songs. I am not sure if this was because I was not familiar with the all new songs, or the songs being mostly upbeat and fast moving, or the orchestra being very loud and coming over more like a high powered rock band rather than an orchestra.

Four songs in Kinky Boots stand out. "Everybody Say Yeah" is a great vibrant song to end Act 1 before interval. The ballad "Not My Father’s Son" sung by Charlie and Lola is a moving heartfelt reflective song. The solo by Lola "Hold Me In Your Heart" is a stunning solo on centre stage. The finale "Raise You Up/Just Be" is an upbeat song at the end of the Act 2.

The costumes are designed by Gregg Barnesare. The drabness of the factory workers clothes are offset by the dazzling clothes (and boots) of Lola and his Angels.

The choreography adds to the singing, and verges on the acrobatic with some of the dancing on the conveyor belts of the factory.

David Rockwell, the set designer created the exterior brick wall of the Price & Son Shoe Factory and its interior. This interior was an imaginative use of back and side walls of metal, glass and brick. A central structure provided various settings as it was spun around on different angles.

The creative lighting design of Kinky Boots was done by Kenneth Poshner. This showed the contrast between the drabness of the shoe factory and the brightness of the Night Club and Milan fashion parade for the finale.

Kinky Boots is a musical but it is also a comedy. However, I felt a bit uneasy about most of the laughter coming from differences in sexual orientation and differences in personalities portrayed by the actors on stage. The laughter tended to go against the message of the show.

Kinky Boots has a strong message about encouraging people to embrace diversity and acceptance. It is about standing up for who you are and for what you believe in. The not so subtle message is about being who you want to be and accepting others for who they want to be. 

If you want to see a somewhat different musical get your shoes, or boots, walking to see Kinky Boots at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney up until July 23, or afterwards at the QPAC in Brisbane. 

Just seeing the sparkling knee high stiletto red boots on stage makes for a good night out. 

kinkybootsthemusical.com.au