Hello all, hope everyone is OK and
been going to see some shows too – please share your experiences I’d love to
read about them. Well on Tuesday 1st September 2015 I went to visit
the West End (again) and this time to see the new London showing of Kinky
Boots. I’ll get onto the show in a minute, you know I like some context. Visited
with Me Beez (Kayleigh) again; was great as always. We had a little stroll down
Covent Garden, watching the street acts and looking round the quaint (and
expensive) little shops; even started me Christmas shopping which was a bonus. Had
a nice little relaxing coffee (and diet coke for me Beez) – bloody hell coffee
beans are expensive in London; £3.30 for a latte and then to add salt to my
wound a ‘discretionary’ 78p service charge - Day light robbery! We also went to
café Rouge for tea which I have never been to before and would go again was
nice and thank you mama Beez (Mands) for our tea – beautiful. So we arrive at
the Adelphi Theatre (Adelphi) which is a nice little theatre, first time I there was this
year to see Made in Dagenham (shame that show ended was really good and I still
enjoy listening to the soundtrack). Anyway trust us two to get lumbered with a weirdo
drunk (and not me this time J). So I
shall explain: Me and me Beez are taking each other’s photos with a Kinky Boots
poster thingy and this woman storms in front of us and stands behind the
poster, looks at me Beez and says “OH, you want to take my photo?” Well I have
gone into hysterics and when I turn back Beez is taking her bloody photo. Well
I am shocked, but that’s not all, the woman was like “shall I roll my dress up”;
well clearly I am like “No … No … not necessary love”, her husband don’t give a
shit he’s having a wine at the bar while I get to see this lady’s knickers on
two occasions. Seriously! I don’t actually know how to continue with this story
so I will leave it. Women! (Jokes!)
So let’s get onto the show (London gets Kinky). It is
based on the 2005 film of the same name which I have only seen once but is a
really good film and worth a watch; often on BBC or I am sure it is available
by legal download or just buy it. The book is by Harvey Fierstein and music and
lyrics by Cyndi Lauper; we will get onto Lauper but she won (and rightly
deserved) the 2013 Tony Award for Best Original Score. I am not going to lie
and I am going to be critical – this is what the blog is for; but please if you
have seen Kinky Boots please leave your feedback. Firstly I was not aware until
researching when I got in from the show that it was first in the USA. It first
was produced in Chicago in 2012 before moving to Broadway in 2013. Kinky Boots
remains on Broadway and reached its 1000th performance this August
so congratulations to the Broadway production. It also won the 2013 Tony award
for Best Musical, beating the fabulous show Matilda to the top prize which was
quite an upset; especially after the critical reaction Matilda received in the
West End. We did see the show after it launched on stage 11 days (including
Sundays) previously and it was still in its preview stage. It did take me a few
scenes and songs to get me in the mood for the show and initially I was not overly
impressed after seeing some really amazing musicals this year; it just felt a
little flat to me. Although I have to say the first song (The Most Beautiful
Thing in the World) has stuck in my head and I have listened to it a few times
on YouTube. It was when I first saw Lola and the Angels that I fell in love
with the show; as you may well be aware present me with a group of gorgeous Drag
Queens and I am yours (seeing Priscilla Queen of the Desert again on tour in
February 2016 so look out for that post). So I did in the end absolutely love
the show, the storyline and the songs – all fabulous and worth seeing.
As I said the show was in its
preview stage and this was sometimes clear. There were a few mistakes which
were obvious and some less obvious and I may have actually been mistaken. The
reason I mention this is because some of the well-established shows do not have
these mistakes; or I have not seen them as they must occur. Little things like
not getting the staging connected or up in time, dancers and actors looking or
facing the wrong direction and making it clear they were in the wrong position
and props and that falling. However it is expected with live shows especially
in a preview phase. The staging and lighting were phenomenal and I cannot
contest that. The transitions between different scenes were generally flawless
(providing staging was moved quickly enough) and the lights during the Lola and
Angels songs were to die for and often found myself mesmerised by these and not
the acting (I think that’s a good thing – for the lighting). The costumes of
the Angles (oh sorry the Angels are the group of Queens) were superb and I want
one in each colour; well mainly red and the Union Jack one will be my wedding
dress when Mr Right knocks on my door. The leading man and queen were fabulous.
Killian Donnelly who plays Charlie has a fab voice and I really enjoy his sound
(I have him on the Memphis soundtrack and it’s a beautiful tone); he has also
starred in some very famous shows including Les Misėrables, Billy Elliott and
Phantom. Lola who is the main drag queen (real name Simon) is portrayed by Matt
Henry who really has some sass and attitude and I would definitely make sure he
shantayed. He did really well with his draginess and I need some lessons.
Lauren is played by Amy Lenox (not sure if there is a relation there) and she
honestly has such a powerful voice I was quite gutted she only had one main
song – The History of Wrong Guys – it would have been really nice to hear more
of her voice. The Angels were gorgeous and it was like an episode of Ru Paul’s
Drag Race (this is a compliment!); they really made the show what it is. One Angel
played by Marcus Collins (X Factor 2011 runner-up) clearly wanted to be playing
Lola and be centre stage and I personally found this off putting – I hope you
enjoy your understudy times. But hey; he’s a drag queen. I really need to
mention Lauper’s superb score which from reading certain articles she found
difficult to write. Well however difficult she found it she really did a grand
job with it. It is quite obvious the songs were Lauperised and this is no bad
thing, it was fab to have a bit of Disco Diva in there. Particular ones that I
have not mentioned yet, but were definitely kinky, include: ‘Take What You Got’,
‘Land of Lola’, ‘Everybody Say Yeah’, ‘Hold Me In Your Heart’ and the finale ‘Raise
You Up/Just Be’ all make you wanna dance, cry or laugh. I know there is a
Broadway cast album for purchase (Broadway Album); however I think I am going to wait for the
West End cast album. One final difficulty of the show was the music seemed so
much louder than the singing voices, it was sometimes difficult to hear the
lyrics; whether this was my deafness or a production fault I am not sure but I
look forward to the album (although you can hear the songs on YouTube). So, although
I have been critical (not bitching, constructive criticism) I did love the show
and urge you to see it. I hope the West End production carries on like the
Broadway production as I will most likely be seeing this show again if it’s
still on late next year – tickets sales have been extended to February 2016. This blog just got Kinky!
No comments:
Post a Comment