Chapter Five Kinky Northamptonshire:
A good pair of boots are worth walking for!
Kinky Boots, is a heart-warming British `feel good` story, set in the famous Northamptonshire shoe industry. Inspired by true events, Kinky Boots takes you from a struggling gentlemen’s shoe factory in Northampton, to the glamorous catwalks of Milan. Having failed to live up to his father’s hopes and dreams, that one day, his son Charlie would take over his shoe business, after his father dies, Charlie decides to try and save the family shoe factory, Price & Son. The book and film was both inspiring and emotive. Having already seen the film, which was based on the book by Harvey Fierstein, I was very much looking forward to seeing, Kinky Boots, the musical in Northampton at the Royal and Derngate. It was no surprise to me that it had won numerous awards in Britain, the United States and the across the world. The musical was at times hilarious, glamorous, glitzy, heart – breaking and passionate, the musical quite simply had it all!
While on a business trip to London to try and sell some of the company’s surplus stock, Charlie tops to help a woman being hassled by a couple of drunks and is accidently knocked out by her! Charlie wakes up confused backstage, in the dressing room of Lola, a drag queen performer and the alter ego of Simon from Clacton. Charlie is surprised when he sees that drag queens’ high heels snap so easily, because Lola is having to wear women’s shoes, rather than boots or shoes that would support his weight. Enter, the iconic red high-heeled special “Divine Footwear” that were custom-made and reinforced to hold a man’s weight during the filming of Kinky Boots. The boots can still be seen in the Northampton Shoe Museum on Guildhall Road. The boots are just a pair of thousands of shoes & boots on display, they are varied, unusual, beautifully crafted, bizarre, colourful, unique and the stories behind them all are even more fascinating! Young people of all ages will find something of interest in the Museum. With free entry at the door, it’s a fantastic way to pass a few hours with the children and better still you are free to take pictures also with plenty of opportunities for those essential selfies!
Ah! Now the little pottery shoes, they’re good luck, you see. You know, like Whitby has lucky glass ducks, Northampton has lucky pottery shoes.
Ms Cobb speaking to Lola – Kinky Boots
When Charlie gets back to Northampton, whilst in the process of laying off his workers, which he does not want to do, one employee, Lauren, gives Charlie the idea of looking for a niche market product to save his business. Boots and shoes for the drag queens! Charlie then recruits Lauren to assist him in designing a high-heeled boot for drag performers. The designs they come up with, are met with ridicule by Lola, who they had invited to Northampton, so Charlie decides to offer Lola the role of design consultant. It is not long before the business is preparing to produce their iconic footwear, with the essential assistance of Lola.
The Travel Locker & Two of The Angels
In Milan, near the conclusion of the show, Charlie is forced to go onstage and model the boots himself. The catwalk in Milan is important to show off the boots to a large audience. At first, it does not go well. After tripping and falling flat on his face, it is not long before the show is saved, when Lola and her Angels arrive, putting on a spectacular final catwalk show to rapturous applause. It was a very cool and a nice touch, to see Charlie donning the claret and white of a Cobblers Northampton Town FC football shirt, as the musical is set in the town and there were obviously many local cobblers supporters in attendance. The set designs were impressive, the exterior and interior of the shoe factory, based on the Trickers shoe factory on St Michael’s Rd, Northampton. Conveyor belts, sewing machines and leather cutting tools create a convincing shoe factory. The scenes easily switched between factory, pub, club, fight ring and catwalk seamlessly. Not even an unscheduled twenty minute `fire alarm` break, when all theatre personnel, cast and audience were forced to venture out into the cold autumn air, could dampen the enthusiasm and anticipation for what was to follow.
Paula Lane as Lauren
There were a couple of changes made from the film version of the book, the arm wrestling becoming a slow-motion boxing bout. The set design and lighting during the boxing match was perfectly synchronised clearly demonstrating the divisions between the two camps of masculinity and feminism during a suitably stirring song, ` In this corner`. Colourful, dynamic and convincing musical theatre at its best! Demitri Lampra was a very convincing and believable Don, a character you get to warm to as the show goes on particularly after the boxing bout and Charlies argument with his girlfriend Nicola, when Don discovers Charlies genuine concern for his workforce. Not quite sure whether anyone managed to nail down the elusive Northamptonshire accent though!
Lola and her Angels simply stole the show.
Burgundy- please God tell me I have not inspired something Burgundy!
Red, Red,Red!
Lola
Callum Francis, who starred as Lola during the Australian tour of Kinky Boots was a tour de force, a fine vocal performance and magnetic visual appeal. The Angels tore the place down with some incredible acrobatic dance choreography and simply stunning costume design. Whenever Lola appeared on stage eyes were drawn to her, a powerful figure of self – confidence, certainty and belief in who she was. When she was stripped down in civvies as Simon from Clacton the change in personality and confidence was astounding. Lola had lost all conviction and belief in herself and appeared vulnerable and exposed. When she and Charlie sang, Not my fathers son, you could feel the compassion and empathy for each character from a now subdued audience.
If you can’t get women to wear them, you`ll never get a man like me to wear them!
Lola
Other notable performances came from Joel Harper Jackson, as Charlie, a much more animated and expressive character, than in the film version.! This was perfectly expressed during his angry response to the factory workers when preparing the boots for the Milan show. Kinky Boots is a musical of hope, that people can respect and accept others for what they are without discrimination and judgement. It is an up – lifting celebration of diversity and friendships. A story full of sole, performed at a blistering pace with everyone’s best foot forward. There’s no business-like shoe business!
The finale at the Milan Show was a fitting final climax to a stunning musical giving the whole company the opportunity to put on their dancing shoes, not forgetting their boots, throw back their heels and raise their voices for one last rousing song of `Raise you up`, and a fine tribute to the shoemakers of Northamptonshire.
