We review Kinky Boots at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal

With Nottingham’s Pride celebration just around the corner, Kinky Boots is the perfect show to see to celebrate inclusivity, being true to yourself, and standing up to narrowmindedness.

Based on the film and with music written by Cyndi Lauper, the plot sees Charlie Price (Dan Partridge) inherit his family's failing shoe factory in Northampton after his father dies, and struggles to keep the factory afloat and his staff their jobs, plus his relationship with go-getting fiancée Nicola (Kara Lily Hayworth) is on the rocks.

Then he meets drag queen Lola (Strictly Come Dancing’s Johannes Radebe — who we all knew can dance but is also a fantastic singer and actor), and after learning of their struggles to find fabulous footwear, hits on a new idea to properly shoe the ladies of the drag club and keep his business going.

Johannes’s talents took me by surprise — he not only bring so much sass and sex appeal to the role, but his multi-layered performance as Lola was also moving and vulnerable as we hear of his upbringing at the hands of his bigoted father, and his performance of Hold Me in Your Heart to his dying father was incredibly powerful.

Dan’s Charlie was also fantastic, with powerful vocals and a heartfelt performance of a man trying to keep his livelihood going and keep everyone happy, while also learning a lot about himself.

Another stand-out performer was Courtney Bowman as bubbly Lauren, one of Charlie’s employees who is nursing something of a crush on the reluctant factory owner, and she brought such likeable charm to the role that we were all rooting for her to get her man.

The drag queens brought amazing dance and song to the stage, with such talented performers and it was also fantastic to see the ensemble cast bring their own pieces to the jigsaw of the show — Joe Caffrey as the bigoted Don, who learns a valuable lesson in accepting people for who they are, was especially impressive and it was so inspiring to see his perceptions of the queens change.

I left the theatre after watching Kinky Boots feeling so uplifted and inspired, and the powerful messages of acceptance and inclusivity are as important today as always — especially in light of recent news regarding gender rules and roles.

The show has arrived at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal and runs until Saturday, and if you’re looking for a show to fill your heart with joy and pride, empower you to be proud of who you are, and just all over ‘raise you up’, then go and see Kinky Boots — I insist!