Ten reasons we love Kinky Boots
© Matt Crockett
Everybody say nooooo! The time has finally come. January sees the end of the run of the brilliant and beautiful musical Kinky Boots. After entertaining London audiences for four years, here's ten highlights to remind you why it's such a great show (and why you should head back to see it one last time).
1. From the beginning to an Olivier (or two)
Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper's fabulous musical arrived in this fair city in August 2015. And from that moment, as this video shows, the musical never looked back. There were tears, laughs, dancing and lots and lots of strutting.
2. Cyndi surprising the cast in rehearsal
One of the excellent things about Kinky Boots is that it comes complete with a pop star. Cyndi Lauper wrote the music and lyrics and she loved popping over to London. Here's what happened when she surprised the Kinky cast with a rehearsal visit. #GirlsWantToHaveFun
3. Winning a few WhatsOnStage Awards
The 16th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards went big for Kinky. You voted in your droves for the musical, which took home Best Musical and Best Actor in a Musical for Matt Henry. It was a sign of things to come: Kinky won Best New Musical and Matt won Best Actor in a Musical at the Olivier Awards later that year.
4. Supporting Heads Together with Cyndi Lauper
Kinky Boots comes with a moral message about being who you want to be and changing the world. It was an impressive moment therefore, when the show demonstrated it was about action as well as words and teamed up with Heads Together, a charity encouraging conversations around mental health.
5. Matt Henry's guide on how to prepare for the WhatsOnStage Awards
The inimitable Matt Henry returned to chat to WhatsOnStage in 2017, the year after his glorious win, to give us some dress tips on what to wear at the #WOSAwards. As usual, he was fabulous and his advice is heeded each year of the WhatsOnStage Awards
6. Matt handing over the boots to Simon-Anthony Rhoden
In a hugely emotional moment, Matt Henry stepped down from the role of Lola in May 2017. Here he is making a speech on his final night and giving the new Lola his fabulous boots. Big shoes to fill.
7. Simon-Anthony Rhoden singing "Land of Lola"
And filled they were by the new Lola, Simon-Anthony Rhoden, who had been with the show from the beginning and made his West End debut in it. He took over from Matt Henry in a big way and made us jump for joy with this rendition of "Land of Lola". Everybody say yeah!
8. Kinky's third birthday
We got a sneak peek into the world of Kinky Boots from this video which marked the moment when the third year cast started and they wowed audiences in August 2017. Three years in the West End!
9. West End Live performance 2018
West End Live is always a fabulous chance to get close to the fans, but this year's event was off the scale. Here's the cast of Kinky Boots causing an absolute storm and demonstrating that the show still delights the crowds.
10. Oliver Tompsett singing Soul of a Man
Remember when this video was released in October? We definitely do. It showed Oliver Tompsett, who took over as Charlie in June 2018, singing "Soul of a Man" and it was shiver-inducing. We immediately went out to see it again.
