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Killian Donnelly and Matt Henry to Star in KINKY BOOTS in the West End

By: Apr. 23, 2015
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According to the Daily Mail, Killian Donnelly (as Charlie) and Matt Henry (as Lola) will lead KINKY BOOTS in the West End.

"You can change the world if you change your mind - just be who you want to be. That's what you come away with," said Donnelly, who is departing London's MEMPHIS this summer to start rehearsals for the show.

He described his boot fitting to the Mail, saying, "I was standing there in my underpants while she was measuring the circumference of my thigh, my leg, each toe - and parts of the foot I never even knew existed."

Among Donnelly's other West End credits are THE COMMITMENTS, BILLY ELLIOT and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.

THE VOICE UK contestant and stage vet Henry, who still needs to be measured for his kicks, told the Mail he bought a pair of heels and wore them to meet the KINKY BOOTS casting director. "I have worn them before, professionally. As Lola, I have to wear a lot of heels, and practising helps to build up the calf muscles," the actor said.

Tickets for the UK premiere of Kinky Boots, Broadway's huge-hearted, high-heeled hit, will go on sale from Monday 2 March 2015, and will open at London's Adelphi Theatre on 15 September 2015, with previews from 21 August.

KINKY BOOTS, winner of six Tony Awards including Best Musical, opened on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on April 4, 2013. The show tells the story of Charlie Price (Donnelly), who has suddenly inherited his father's shoe factory, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. Trying to live up to his father's legacy and save his family business, Charlie finds inspiration in the form of Lola (Henry). A fabulous entertainer in need of some sturdy stilettos, Lola turns out to be the one person who can help Charlie become the man he's meant to be. As they work to turn the factory around, this unlikely pair finds that they have more in common than they ever dreamed possible... and discovers that when you change your mind about someone, you can change your whole world.

Inspired by a true story and based on the Miramax motion picture written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth, Kinky Boots features a warm and witty book by four-time Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein (La Cage, Torch Song Trilogy, Newsies) and a richly diverse musical score from Grammy Award-winning rock icon Cyndi Lauper, in her stunning theatrical debut. The production is directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell (Hairspray, La Cage, Broadway Bares), with music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations by Stephen Oremus (Book of Mormon, Wicked).

Jerry Mitchell made his Broadway and West End debuts as director with the 2011 Olivier Award-winning Best Musical, Legally Blonde, for which he also served as choreographer and was nominated for the Tony and Olivier Awards for his choreography and the Drama Desk Award for his direction. Jerry received Broadway's Tony Award as choreographer of the 2005 Tony Award-winning Best Revival of La Cage aux Folles, having also been nominated for the Tony in the same category for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Previously, Jerry received Olivier, Tony and other nominations for choreographing Hairspray and The Full Monty. For Broadway, Jerry also choreographed Never Gonna Dance and the revivals of Gypsy (starring Bernadette Peters), The Rocky Horror Show and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, as well as Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Off-Broadway and film). Most recently, he directed and choreographed Peepshow, a Las Vegas extravaganza production show and served as production supervisor for Broadway's Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Pictured: Killian Donnelly in MEMPHIS in the West End. Photo by Johan Perrson.




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