Friday March 29, 2024
KINKY BOOTS
Review

KINKY BOOTS

October 24 2016

KINKY BOOTS, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, 23 October 2016. Photography by Matthew Murphy: above - Callum Francis; below: Toby Francis

If you expect Kinky Boots to be a good old fashioned American musical with lots of colour and movement, music to tap along to, a talented and enthusiastic cast, and an uplifting message where the little guy, with his hard-working team, wins in the end … you won't be disappointed. That's exactly what it is. And the strong subtext of what it means to be a man, even if you wear a dress, is handled with unthreatening good humour; as an audience member said, "It's a bit like LGBTI issues for dummies." 

However, some members and supporters of the LGBTI community may be a little annoyed at the oft-quoted line, “Ladies and Gentlemen, and those who haven’t yet made up their mind!” – it’s not an issue of choice, right?  But, hey! this is Broadway; let’s not let a little political inaccuracy get in the way of a nice night’s entertainment. 

If you've seen the 2005 British movie you know the plot and this is a very faithful version: Charlie Price (Toby Francis), a reluctant heir to a failing shoe factory teams up with an unlikely partner, Lola (Callum Francis) a flamboyant drag-queen, and by the way, a trained pugilist, in need of sturdier shoes, sorry, boots – and boots with HEELS. 

Their rocky business partnership predictably, despite some major setbacks, survives and triumphs at the subsequent parade in the world’s fashion capital, Milan. The business is saved, there’s a little romance along the way, a touch of bromance as well, and everyone ends up wearing the kinky boots they’ve all been dying to don.  

Yes, the setting is industrial Britain but it's definitely American pizzazz and vocal accents. It doesn't ramp-up the time and setting like the musical version of Billy Elliot, which charted the same territory, with its subtext of industrial and social decay giving that musical more gravitas than its original, but the creative team of Kinky Boots knows its audience, and delivers exactly what they want, in spades. 

KINKY BOOTS

The crowd was on its feet in the finale, clapping and stamping even if they couldn’t understand the over-amplified lyrics; but we’re used to that by now. And after the show there was a mob at the merchandise counter and couples hustled to get their selfies next to the gigantic pair of boots outside the theatre.  

Kinky Boots joins the long list of musical successes, oh, and try-outs and experiments that have made Marvellous Melbourne the queen of musical theatre. Long may she reign. 

Music & Lyrics: Cyndi Lauper; Book: Harvey Fierstein; Direction & Choreography: Jerry Mitchell; Resident Director: Martin Croft; Music Supervision: Stephen Ormeus; Design: David Rockwell; Costumes: Gregg Barnes; Lighting: Kenneth Posner; Sound: John Shivers

 

Comments

  • Be the first to leave a comment below

Leave a Comment

Enter your username and password to comment. Don't have a username? Register now.

Forgot your password? Reset it.
Post comment
Subscribe

Get all the content of the week delivered straight to your inbox!

Register to Comment
Reset your Password
Registration Login
Registration