In the foyer of the Fugard Theatre, a cardboard cut-out has been set up so that audience members can take a photo of themselves ‘wearing’ the thigh-high glittery red boots so prominent in the production and its marketing materials. The fact that even this small show-related attraction has such a long queue on performance nights says a lot about the production’s runaway success. Since its opening in June of this year, Kinky Boots has been playing to rapturous full houses.
Now Kinky Boots will continue sashaying and strutting its stuff across the boards of the Fugard Theatre until 27 October.
Strange but true…
In 1999, the BBC screened a documentary about a struggling shoe factory in Northamptonshire which had been making traditional men’s shoes for over a century. A young man had taken over the business from his father, and was battling to keep things afloat in a world of changing fashions and increased international competition… until the fateful day it was suggested to him that he consider servicing a niche market: women’s shoes in men’s sizes, or ‘kinky boots’…
That documentary inspired the 2005 film Kinky Boots, which in turn inspired several theatre producers and creatives to start working on a musical adaptation for the stage. Harvey Fierstein, Tony Award-winning writer of Torch Song Trilogy and La Cage aux Folles, was hired to write the book and multi award-winning songwriter and musician Cyndi Lauper was brought on to write the music. The show went on to become a big hit on Broadway and the West End, eventually winning six Tony Awards and three Laurence Olivier Awards and touring the globe. Now Capetonians are relishing the chance to kick up their heels.
The show
Charlie Price is trying to live up to his father’s legacy in a brave new world. In an attempt to rescue the family business, Charlie finds inspiration in ‘Lola’, a trés fabuleux drag entertainer who needs some sturdy stilettos to perform in. The unlikely partners work to turn the factory around by developing a range of high-heeled boots for men. Uptight, traditional Charlie (even down to his several-shades-of-brown wardrobe) could not be more different to his flashy and unconventional new partner, but we soon understand that they have more in common than they realise, and the progression of their partnership, both professional and personal, is the spine of the show.
Sometimes it’s tricky terrain, but ultimately it’s what they have in common that binds them, one of the show’s big messages. They discover that ‘when you change your mind about someone, you can change your whole world’. The two characters also relate on the deeply personal level of having difficult relationships with their fathers, another major theme of the show.
Darren Craig delivers the awkward-yet-endearing Charlie well, and shines in his solo numbers. He is also the perfect ‘straight man’ to the larger-than-life Lola, played with gusto by the excellent Earl Gregory. Lola is the kind of character made for musical theatre: bold, brash and funny with a distinctly bawdy edge. Gregory brings her to life in dazzling fashion: from the voice to the moves (and legs!), this Lola knows how to deliver a performance. But laughs and dance steps aside, the leads deftly carry the heart of the show, prompting the requisite lump in the throat despite some of the more mawkish moments in the script.
Backed by an impressive band and tight technical team, the stars shine brightest when they’re kicking up those kinky boots.
Namisa Mdlalose must get a shout-out for her scene-stealing and hilarious performance as Lauren. Nathan Ro delivers a humorous but appropriately menacing Don, and Lola’s ‘angels’ – three drag queens with moves and looks a plenty – provide equal measures of comedy and great choreography. All the ensemble players work hard to bring the energy and keep the show feeling much bigger than it is, an admirable achievement. This is also helped by the clever, beautifully rendered sets and gorgeous lighting design.
Lights, boots, action!
The lighting for the show was designed by seasoned UK veteran Tim Mitchell and programmed by Mathew Lewis. “Programming for Kinky Boots made me fall in love with the Eos consoles all over again,” said Lewis, who is also the ETC product manager at ApexPro. “The lovely thing about Eos is whether you’re using your laptop or you’re using the big flagship console, it’s all the same software. So it’s all compatible and works together. It’s such an easy console because it speaks the same language the designer speaks to a programmer.”
According to Lewis, the lead product developer on Eos, Anne Valentino, actually went and sat in theatres while they were programing and listened to how the designers talked to the programmers. She then developed the syntax from there, so as to keep it simple and comprehensible. The Eos Ti was born from these efforts, and it is the console Lewis worked on for the production. His love for the console is contagious and, according to him, “There’s not a show on Broadway that’s not on Eos.” Lighting Designer Tim Mitchell echoes the sentiment by saying that “Eos consoles make average programmers look brilliant.”
The Eos Titanium (or Eos Ti) is ETC’s flagship lighting control console, with powerful hardware, easy-to-navigate software, and the right tools to realise art within the tight timetable of professional productions. The desk’s common-sense syntax is consistent and predictable so anyone – novices and professionals alike – can get down to business. You can work from an abstract concept of a design to a straightforward command sequence, thinking less about the mechanics of the system and more about the look of your show. All of this with an award-winning colour engine.
Another ETC flagship is prominent in the lighting rig for the show: the Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr, ETC’s flagship lighting fixture. Leading the pack of LED theatre lighting, the Lustr uses ETC’s x7 Color System with the addition of a lime-green LED emitter and more red, to create a deeper, richer colour spectrum that fills in the gaps that ordinary LEDs leave behind. This cutting edge technology lends the production a world-class sheen, as various spaces are created and enhanced by lighting wizardry.
The biggest lighting challenge and goal, per Lewis, was contrasting the “boring old world” of the shoe factory with the glitz of Lola’s neon nightclub lifestyle. “The way that LED technology has come along, made it much easier to be able to switch between these states. Especially the Lustrs that can render tungsten-like looks all the way through to bold, saturated colour. Couple that with the power of Eos, particularly the colour mixing engine, and the whole process becomes a lot easier.”
Kinky Boots is a foot-stomper, and had the audience on its feet by the rousing show-stopping finale. Book now to avoid disappointment – and remember to get your own kinky-booted selfie during interval!
