It's time for my updated review of Kinky Boots.Just want to start off with a huge apology for the two week delay in writing this review. School has started again so I'm busy, busy busy! But without further ado, here it finally is...
August 2015... a new show called 'Kinky Boots' had just started previews in the West End. The show had made it's way from the Big Apple after winning the Tony Award for best musical. I am usually very interested to see Tony (or Olivier) winning shows, so I went along. I was completely blown away, everything about the show was stunning. It even made it's way into my top 10 shows of all time (number 7 on the list). Now September 2016... the show has had an amazing year! It has been really well received by the British audiences, won several Olivier Awards and has done very well at the box office. The show recently had a cast change so I went back to see it. Funnily enough, only 2 of the 7 principal cast members stayed and those two (Matt Henry and Michael Hobbs) were both out and had understudies playing those roles. It was just so great to see it again, I can't express how much I love this show. It is my favourite show in the West End at the moment. I thought, for this 'comparison' review, I'd go through the main cast members and compare their performances to their predecessors. First of all I'll start with David Hunter as Charlie Price. I was a little bit worried about anyone taking over this role as Killian Donnelly was such a tour de force in the role. My worries were soon swept aside as David is phenomenal! Killian is so hard to beat, but David nails the role. He has an incredible voice, his rendition of 'Soul of a Man' even made Mum cry! ;) He's such a good actor too, the show seems to be doing well at casting their Charlie's. It was interesting to compare the differences between David and Killian, I think Charlie is such a great part to play. Onto Arun Blair-Mangat who was understudying as Lola in the place of Matt Henry, who I had seen previously in September. WOW. Arun's performance is out of this world, I say this in almost every review, but here it is again... understudies are so incredible and yet so under appreciated. If I dare say it, I even thought Arun was slightly better than Matt Henry (not by much, but slightly has the edge). I just thought that Arun had such a command of the stage, he was such a personality, he would always steal the show whenever he was onstage. His version of 'Not My Father's Son' was absolutely heart wrenching, I cannot say enough good things about his performance. WOW WOW WOW! I feel like we need an understudy appreciation day, after all, this has been a great year for understudies, what with Ria Jones in Sunset Boulevard and Natasha Barnes in Funny Girl. Elena Skye, who is making her West End debut, is great as Lauren. She had some big shoes to fill, having replaced Olivier Award winner Amy Lennox, but she is already brilliant and I am sure she will get even better as time goes on. I also really liked Alan Medhizadeh as Don and the new angels are excellent, they're such stunning dancers! The show is in fantastic shape, the new cast are excellent and really do the show justice. To reiterate what I said in my previous review; the songs are brilliant. I cannot fault the music in any way, it really is THAT good. If I had to choose, my two favourites are 'Soul of a Man' and 'Hold Me in Your Heart', which are also excellently performed. The choreography is really good, as is the lighting and set. I am a big fan of the costumes, which deservedly won an Olivier Award. The only negative I have for the show and I hate to be so picky, but during the opening number, the child playing Young Lola really seemed to struggle with the song and it sounded really out of tune. To be fair, the cast are relatively new and I am sure over time the child actors will ease into it. This is not a major concern as Young Lola only appears doing this number. Apart from that, I was smiling throughout, I did not want it to end!
The featured star of Kinky Boots is, drum roll please... ARUN BLAIR-MANGAT!
I'd love it if Arun were to be cast full time in the role, he is so, so, so good! I cannot praise his performance enough, this is a performance definitely worth seeing.
Now for my final verdict on Kinky Boots. I give Kinky Boots...
I give this rating because the show is utter perfection. I love it so much and I can't wait to see it again. It delivers such a powerful message and one that should never be forgotten... Just be, who you want to be! Never let them tell you who you ought to be!
Agree with my rating? Think it should have got a lower rating? If so comment below.
Join me next time when I will be reviewing The Dresser.
Thanks for reading!
-The Reviewer
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