Kinky Boots The Musical at The Theatre Royal, Nottingham.

July 1st 2025

I absolutely adore the fact that the plot of Kinky Boots is based on an entirely true story. An ailing Northampton shoe factory by the name of ‘Price and Son’ finds itself on the brink of bankruptcy. It transpires that their particular brand of sensible men’s shoes are just not cutting muster with the competition. When young Charlie Price inherits the business following his father’s death, he dares to move away from the trusty and fusty old brand and into something altogether more exciting – the underserved niche market of sturdy yet sexy footwear for drag performers. The story revolves around his bold move to save the factory and his blossoming friendship with the person who inspired the idea in the first place. The stage show is based on the 2005 film of the same name and premiered back in 2013, when it won the Tony Award for Best Musical and a plethora of other prestigious plaudits. The book is by Harvey Fierstein and music by none other than the legend that is Cyndi Lauper. This production was ‘Made At Curve’ and is directed by the artistic director at the Leicester venue, Nikolai Foster.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the star of this show is Strictly professional dancer Johannes Radebe who takes the lead role of Lola – the drag queen at the heart of the story. Radebe is absolutely wonderful to watch. He captures the audience’s attention and imagination from the very off, performing each number with high energy and sass. We already knew that he could dance – and boy can he dance – there are some absolutely wonderful moments here which really allow him to show off that particular talent. But Radebe can also sing – his rendering of Hold Me In Your Heart shows the vulnerability of the character and gives it a rounded more nuanced energy, in amongst the snappy one liners and joie de vivre as expressed in The Land Of Lola. He is completely committed to the role and it shows. This is a tour de force of a performance!

Radebe is ably assisted in the telling of this story by Dan Partridge who delivers a standout performance as reluctant factory heir and dreamer Charlie Price. Partridge is completely believable and performs the development of his character arc to perfection. His energy and chemistry with Radebe is heavenly. The duet they share – ‘I’m Not My Father’s Son’ – is simply beautiful. These two were born to perform together.

Courtney Bowman consistently steals the spotlight as Charlie’s devoted colleague / love interest Lauren. Bowman works absolute wonders with her face, exquisitely communicating every awkward emotion and heartfelt aside. Her performance of The History Of Wrong Guys has this opening night audience squealing with delight.

The whole ensemble are pitch perfect, and execute Leah Hill’s choreography quite brilliantly. I must single out Scott Paige who plays George – he really is a fantastic comedy performer who lights up the room with every entrance and pulls off some spectacularly wonderful asides.

The set and costume design by Robert Jones are both phenomenal – we are transported effortlessly from factory floor to catwalk and back again. The industrial factory environs are expansive and gloomy. When juxtaposed with the colour and chic of the drag club the jarring of these two worlds is illustrated to perfection. Ben Cracknell’s lighting design makes the stage glow with warmth at all the right moments. Every scene a thing of beauty. I really am running out of superlatives!

This is a show that radiates positivity. It invites us to accept people for who they are and to seek that which we have in common rather than that which divides. It is absolutely no surprise to me that it has won every major musical award going. This particular cast bring it to life – they crackle with energy and fun and yet manage to land the big hearted message with dignity too. It is an absolute winner of a show with an important tale for our times. So get your boots on (kinky or otherwise) and go see it.

Kinky Boots is at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham until Saturday 5th July 2025.

Photos credit: Pamela Raith