Reviewed by Malcolm Calder
Kinky Boots
Book by Harvey Fierstein
Music & Lyrics by Cyndy Lauper
Based on the original movie by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth
Director, David Adkins
Music Director, Zac Johns
Civic Theatre, Auckland until 17 June
then
The Opera House, Wellington 28 June to 17 July
Reviewed by Malcolm Calder
Last Thursday night, I dutifully packed up my oh-so-serious mindset and my increasingly jaded cynicism about recent trends towards frothy, glitzy music theatre that doesn’t actually say anything much, and took them along to the Opening Night of Kinky Boots at the Civic. I like to think I’m fairly open-minded but that niggly little feller who lurks somewhere just behind my left ear was gently prodding me to regard Kinky Boots all as rather ho-hum.
Apparently they’ve been making shoes in Northampton for about 900 years but there seemed to be an awful lot of unsold men’s brogues lying around in the factory by the end of the twentieth. A woman from Northampton coincidentally sitting next to me nodded and said rather knowingly “… it was mainly the cheaper, better, more fashionable Italian imports that were killing us off as the shoe capital of the world”.
The curtain went up and it was. Pretty ho-hum. The set was a fairly functional interpretation of the original rather tired factory, the band made the right noises and the cast sang a few songs in good workmanlike fashion. But it was all a bit bleak.
That is …
… until Charlie Price (Nic Kyle), the slightly depressed and highly stressed inheritor of his father’s failing shoe factory chanced on drag queen Lola (Stewart Adam McKensey) in London together with her colourful, dynamic and Angelic dance crew. From that point on everything changed. The shoes became boots and they were for anything but walking.
The scenes got shorter and tighter, metaphorically the lighting moved from analogue-drear to digital- crisp and Lauper’s songs became sharper and more energised. The band became tighter and introduced some nifty key shifts, the laughs grew louder and the physical dynamism of this show shifted to another level. As for the cast … well, the cast somehow didn’t just change gear. They got a completely new gearbox.
Charlie and Lola saw an opportunity and took it, rapidly shifting the collapsing Price & Sons into a niche market – one for boots with outrageous heels of course – and glamorously reinventing this collapsing business. And all would be revealed to the world at a glamorous shoe fair in Milan.
The show is ultimately powered by Stewart Adam McKensey and he is rightly billed as the star of both the Angels and the show. His skillfully nuanced characterisation of Lola reveals an emotional depth I didn’t anticipate, superbly backed up with impressive vocal strength, impeccable comic timing and seemingly endless bundles of energy, not to mention some pretty fast footwork too. He is unquestionably Head Angel whether in the boxing ring or in mascara and gives us a Lola who takes pride in both his profession and his life.
Offsetting him is Charlie (Nic Kyle), the less colourful but still strong Everyman, who proves a strong foil for Lola. His self-deprecating and even melancholic ‘Soul of a Man’ is heartfelt and reveals his own depth.
Lola, who becomes the project’s design consultant, overcomes the prejudices of Charlie and some of his workers who aren’t quite adjusted to seeing men in frocks – or thigh-high boots for that matter. Hardly surprising because both grew up in different worlds. But both had overpowering fathers. Rather than succumb to parental expectations, they each choose a new and positive way forward and learn to embrace their differences while creating a line of sturdy stilettos. Ultimately this all comes down to their friendship realised in their touching duet ‘Not My Father’s’ Son. There’s a lesson in there somewhere.
Naomi Cohen skillfully develops Charlie’s love interest as Lauren, culminating in a hilarious rendition of ‘The History of Wrong Guys’ revealing a sharp and chaotic wit. In fact comedy is everywhere and adds to the madcap momentum of this thoroughly enjoyable night out. Director Adkins has clearly worked on this and his cast don’t let him down – none more so than the manly Patrick Jennings (Don) and the nerdy Jeremy Downing (George). Both of course ultimately look brilliant in thigh-high boots.
But this show touches on a good bit more too. Kinky Boots is about acceptance, resilience and then recognising and grasping opportunities – and doing so with joie de vivre, energy and boundless positivism.
The only thing I missed in Kinky Boots was that big, memorable song so much a feature of the genre. There were no ‘Memories’, or ‘Can You Hear the People Sing’, or ‘Do-Re-Mi’ or ‘Maria’ or ‘Defying Gravity’. Instead we got ‘Hold Me in Your Heart’ – Lola’s big show-stopping lament for her dying father, but I’m unlikely to remember it in ten years time.
So there you have it. Just a minor quibble in a fun-filled plotline about a factory owner and a drag queen teaming up to save a family business by making fabulous high-heeled boots that’s about so much more, not the least being the city of Northampton itself.
The sex really is only in the heel. Kinky Boots is really about Olga’s Step Six – ‘you change world when you change your mind’.
Highly recommended for everyone from pre-teens to Boomers.
To subscribe or follow New Zealand Arts Review site – www.nzartsreview.org.
The “Follow button” at the bottom right will appearand clicking on that button will allow you to follow that blog and all future posts will arrive on your email.
Or go to https://nzartsreview.org/blog/, Scroll down and click “Subscribe”
New Zealand Arts Review 