Review: KINKY BOOTS, Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch

There's a perennial problem for older, much loved musicals - what is to be done with them at the end of their runs in the West End?

Sure, they live on as soundtracks and playlists and some might get an ATG tour. Some are re-invented as boutique productions to be staged above pubs and some - not many these days if they really are loved - just fade away.

This new joint production between New Wolsey Theatre and Queen's Theatre Hornchurch celebrating the show's tenth anniversary, falls a little between two stools - instead of feeling like a proper re-imagining of a Broadway show, it feels more like a scaling back. Tim Jackson's show is in a space that seems too big for a set that offers little in the way of spectacle, missing the intimacy that a smaller venue can exploit, particularly in the more poignant moments. That said - and this is an issue often lost on reviewers - ticket prices and concessions will allow far more people to attend than would be the case even for a touring show. Maybe we don't get all of Kinky Boots, but we probably get enough.

A Northamptonshire shoe factory is on the slide and, when its owner and patrician dies, the son, Charlie, takes over - reluctantly. Things are looking bleak before a chance encounter with a drag queen, Lola, gives him the idea to make boots for that niche market. Seeing that Lola knows the customers' needs, she's brought in to do the design work, but she's got daddy issues too and there's many a mis-step en route to the make-or-break runway show in Milan.

Harvey Fierstein's book presses all the right buttons - empowerment, friendship, trust, romance - but, set in 1999, it steers clear of more recent debates about trans identities. One can't be quite sure where such incendiary matters would fit into the narrative (Lola constructs her identity around clothes and shoes) but one is usually fearful of introducing gender anywhere these days - so best left alone.

The timeless quality of the show lies in Cyndi Lauper's award-winning score. I've written here of the moving showstopper, "Not My Father's Son", which is terribly difficult to sing and wasn't quite nailed by the otherwise impressive Keanu Adolphus Johnson. His Lola delivers a fine "Sex Is in the Heel", supported by his stomping, showy, steamy Angels, led by the statuesque George Lynham. Aruhan Galieva has a lot of fun with "The History of Wrong Guys" and is a compelling presence in the cast of hardworking musician-actors.

I saw a matinee that started late due to illness and had the lead, Charlie, played script-in-hand by Matt Harvey who was understandably nervous early on, but pulled through well in the second half. Nevertheless, such a late change inevitably added to the impression that everything was a little underpowered. Why don't we see more of the lurid red heels that Lola so convincingly claims to be the key to the company's renaissance? Why isn't the old school factory foreman, Don, more menacing in order to strengthen the side plot of his growing self-understanding? Why does the Milan runway show finale look like it's taking place in a village hall? Obviously there are financial constraints, but a biggish theatre needs a show big enough to fill it - I'm not sure this production quite met that requirement.

That said, nobody will go away feeling short-changed. They get a heartwarming story, some splendid dance moves and those great songs. And that's not a bad smorgasbord for a Thursday afternoon in Essex!

Kinky Boots is at Queen's Theatre Hornchurch until 22 October

Photo Credit: New Wolsey Theatre

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