Following months of rumours and anticipation, Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots has confirmed it will make its West End debut this summer at London’s Adelphi Theatre.
The big-hearted, high-spirited musical, adapted from the hit 2005 comedy film about a son who reluctantly inherits his father’s shoe factory, will make its London premiere on 21 August (press night 15 September).
Eccentric, flamboyant and brilliantly fabulous, Kinky Boots tells the true story of Charlie Price, the new owner of his late father’s Northampton shoe factory. Trying to live up to his father’s legacy and save the family business from bankruptcy, Charlie finds inspiration in the form of Lola, an entertainer in need of some sturdy stilettos.
As they work to turn the factory around, the unlikely pair find they have more in common than they ever dreamed possible, discovering in the process that when you change your mind, you can change the world.
The inspirational Best Musical Tony Award-winning show brings together a hugely impressive creative team from the US. Jerry Mitchell, one of Broadway’s most successful musical theatremakers, follows West End transfer hits including Hairspray and Legally Blonde The Musical as the show’s director and choreographer.
He is joined by pop icon Cyndi Lauper, whose music and lyrics were awarded a Tony Award, and four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein (Newsies, La Cage Aux Folles), who provides the book.
Commenting on its forthcoming West End arrival and hinting at the direction the yet to be announced casting might take, Mitchell said: “I am delighted to see this big-spirited musical arrive in London. Kinky Boots is very close to my heart and I am really looking forward to staging it here with a British cast.”
The show first played to New York audiences in April 2013, receiving critical acclaim for its colourful, energetic sprit. Time Out New York called the “irresistible” musical, “The very model of a modern major musical”, proclaiming, “If you’ve been low, Kinky Boots may just be the thing to get you back on your feet!”
In an unlikely twist of fate, Kinky Boots will follow another British factory-set musical into the Adelphi Theatre as the Gemma Arterton-led Made In Dagenham concludes West End run on 11 April.