Callum Francis and Danielle Hope cast in New York Kinky Boots

Casting has been announced for the off-Broadway return of the Tony-winning musical Kinky Boots, which is set to begin previews at Stage 42 on 26 July 26 ahead of an official opening night on 25 August.

Callum Francis will lead the cast as Lola, the drag queen who swoops in and saves a struggling British shoe factory with her new line of sexy thigh-high boots. Francis is the recipient of the 2017 Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Musical for his performance in the Australian production of Kinky Boots. He has also appeared as Lola in London and on Broadway.

The off-Broadway production will also feature Christian Douglas (Pretty Woman US Tour) as Charlie Price, Danielle Hope (Les Misérables) as Lauren, Brianna Stoute in her off-Broadway debut as Nicola, Sean Steele in his off-Broadway debut as Don, and Marcus Neville, reprising his role of George from the Broadway production.

The ensemble will include Devin Bowles, Bella Coppola, Nick Drake, Ian Gallagher Fitzgerald, Ryan Halsaver, Matthew Michael Janisse, Lindsay Joan, Kevin Smith Kirkwood, Marty Lauter, Tommy Martinez, Ryah Nixon, Lucas Pastrana, Liz Pearce, Ricky Schroeder, David J Socolar, Ebrin R Stanley, Tarion Strong, Ernest T Williams, and Maria Wirries.

The winner of six 2013 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Kinky Boots features a Tony Award-winning score by Cyndi Lauper, a book by Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein, and direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell. It ran on Broadway for six years, closing in 2019 after more than 2,500 performances.

You can read TheaterMania's review of the Broadway production here.

Find out more about the New York production