Review: Kinky Boots

Growth stories in a shoe factory

If anyone is still sceptical about the musical genre, now is the time to update their attitudes. Helsinki City Theatre’s Kinky Boots approaches the audience through joy. Come as you are!

The musical version, inspired by the 2005 film Kinky Boots, premiered on Broadway in 2013, and since then, the amazing show has toured the world. The musical, composed and written by pop singer and actress Cyndi Lauper, tells about themes that have been close to Lauper’s heart since the 1990s; about drag artists, gay and trans cultures and, above all, about human tolerance. Musicals and musical plays that are perceived as light in plot can credibly deal with difficult themes.

The themes of finding one’s own path and accepting oneself are fundamental themes for theatre. In Kinky Boots, their frame story is an unprofitable shoe factory that Charlie (Petrus Kähkönen) reluctantly gets to save. It has been customary to inherit a life’s mission from father to son. Drag artist Lola (Lauri Mikkola) has also sought her father’s approval in her life. When men meet, the idea of making high-heeled boots for men arises.

In musicals, it is usually the crowd scenes that thrill with their power, as in this one, but in Kinky Boots, the attention is also drawn to the delicate charisma of the male leads. When Lola and Charlie abandon their prejudices, they discover that they are not very different after all. A genuine and naked encounter is created. The emotional duet in the men’s toilet is touching.

The story gleefully mixes gender roles. Sometimes they are on stage in a Northampton pub, sometimes they are macho in a boxing ring. The most incredible acrobatics are performed by the six-man drag queen group Angels in their high heels. The performance makes you ask what is masculine, what is feminine and what does it mean.

When a stage full of ensamble in the midst of all the glitter in shiny boots and stiletto heels sings “we’ll get through it”, it’s easy to be convinced of the message. Director Samuel Harjanne’s version of Kinky Boots is a full-blooded variety show with music and vocal numbers that get you goosebumps. And the audience doesn’t spare their applause, but applauds while standing.