Kinky Boots: Sex is Indeed in the Heel

Kinky Boots is the best kind of musical experience you can ever get the chance to witness. Flamboyant costumes to die for, sassy drag queens taking charge and an ending that convinces you that kindness and goodness will always triumph in the end. Directed by Jerry Mitchell, this touring version of Kinky Boots does not disappoint and I’d say, is one of the best musicals Base Entertainment Asia has ever brought to Singapore thus far.

Inspired by true events, the musical transports us to Price & Son, a gentlemen’s shoe factory in Northampton which is on the verge of closing down. With his father gone and the uncertainty of his own passion and wants plaguing him, Charlie Price is struggling to keep things together – his relationship, his friends and the factory’s future. But all this changes when he accidentally meets Lola, a drag queen who swears by a good pair of heeled boots.

The set pieces mainly accommodate to the aesthetic of the shoe factory, where a bulk of the musical takes place. A brick and mortar building with panelled windows – a scene that strikes us as familiar but is versatile enough to be reused and transformed into a different location altogether. But the props are the ones that really sparked creativity from the creative team and the cast themselves, bringing out the cheekiness of a musical.

One of my favourite moments would be how effortlessly the cast members cast realism aside and started dancing as well as strutting on the tread mills that originally are for the shoes coming down the factory line. Think Madonna but made greater with live musicians and choreographies done right.

Obviously, the true MVPs will have to be Lola (Jos N. Banks) and her Angels (Philip Stock, Derek Brazeau, Brandon Alberto, Jordan Archibald, Eric Stanton Betts, Ernest Terelle Williams). Looking good, nailing every single dance move and in stilettos right from the start is already award-winning. They truly inspire with their confidence and the way they pull everyone’s attention once they get stage.

A special mention goes out to Williams for his amazing powerhouse rendition of In This Corner as the referee angel. Completely nailed it.

Besides Williams, the vocals of Lance Bordelon as Charlie Price and Sydney Patrick as Lauren stand out as well. Their vocal projection reaches beyond the stage space and invites the audience into their emotional trajectories of the storyline. Their characters, though comedic and simplistic in certain instances, are easy to empathise with. And kudos to Patrick for truly nailing every single comedic moment she is in – making her solo song The History of Wrong Guys one of the most memorable throughout the duration of the musical.

If you need even more reason to catch this delightful musical over this coming week, let me just say that this is one of the few musicals that truly embrace the culture of drag. Not as a mere prop, token character or as comedy, but as representation of the struggles and the triumph in journeying into embracing oneself – even if this means going against narrow minded societal attitudes and having to be brave among people who may not understand.

So if you are curious as to what drag is and can be, and would like to experience a story that is as heartwarming as it is entertaining, how about taking a trip down to Marina Bay Sands to catch Kinky Boots?

Kinky Boots
Date: 5th – 14th October 2018
Venue: Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands
Time: Tuesday – Saturday, 8pm / Saturday, 2pm / Sunday, 1pm & 6pm
Admission: From $65 (Concessions available. Get your tickets here.)
Photographs courtesy of Kinky Boots and Base Entertainment Asia