Get ready be razzle-dazzled and well and truly cheered up – these boots are made for entertaining.
Kinky Boots is in town and with music from the fabulous Cindy Lauper this glitterfest certainly gets us in the festive mood.
After a bit of a slow start as the scene is set, it doesn’t take long before the audience is plunged into one of the the most entertaining shows of the season so far at the Opera House.
The story is basically mirrors that of the film of the same name – the reluctant inheritor of down at heel shoe factory Charlie Price (Joel Harper-Jackson) striking an unlikely partnership with the flamboyant and outrageous drag artist Lola (Callum Francis) coming up with a plan to save the factory by making high heel boots for men.
It has a touch of the Billy Elliot, Pride and Fully Monty about it with the coming together of very different worlds, in this case the working class world of the factory floor and the outrageously camp world of drag artists. The drama is in the clash and the predictable overcoming of prejudice and difference.
The poignancy expressed in the film is not lost in the transition to the stage. Apart from the music the only difference between the storyline in the film and in the play is the boxing match between Lola and factory worker Don which replaces the wrestling match in the film – a wise move.
The songs are not that memorable it I’m honest but they do inject a huge dose of energy into the proceedings.
Francis is sensational in the role of Lola and is ably complemented by Harper Jackson’s Charlie and Lola’s fabulous angels.
But for me the real surprise in former Corrie star Paula Lane who is a revelation as love-lorn Lauren who falls for the factory boss.
This is a great show and if you’re fed up with hearing about Brexit, Brexit, Brexit it is the perfect antidote
Runs to December 1