YAOS Kinky Boots Opening night - 5 STAR PRODUCTION

From Grammy® Award-winning pop icon CYNDI LAUPER and four-time Tony Award® winner HARVEY FIERSTEIN comes the exhilarating musical KINKY BOOTS, directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner JERRY MITCHELL.. Based on a true story, KINKY BOOTS features a sensational score, knockout dancing and a spectacularly inspiring story. KINKY BOOTS is the must-see musical that proves that sometimes, the best way to fit in is to stand out!

Based upon the 2005 film of the same name, Kinky Boots follows Charlie Price, a aspiring young businessman who is forced into giving up his dreams of living in London in order to save his late fathers business in Northern England. When he inherits the bankrupt shoe factory, he finds the unexpected inspiration in the form of Lola, a glamorous yet smart entertainer in the need of some sturdy stilettos.

As the pair work to turn the factory around and save it from closing, they find they have a lot more in common than they realised, and still discover that when you change your mind about somebody you can change your whole world and beyond.

YAOS (Yeovil Amateur Operatic Society) opened their production of Kinky Boots in Yeovil at The Octagon Theatre on Wednesday 9th March 2022. As a huge fan of the original production of which I’ve seen on tour around the UK multiple times in the past ten years, as well as seeing the pro shot from the West End countless times. This was one production I could not miss.. But I will admit, seeing i was such a fan of the UK tour, I was slightly nervous yet excited with this production.. Would it live up to the hype of the real thing,?? would you come away from the same??? And the answer to both of those questions is yes.

Yeovil has needed a production like this for such a long time. The show promotes acceptance for everyone, whilst showing the harsh truth into the LGBTQ+ community and lightly touchig on what we have to go though daily.

When entering the theatre, I was happily greeted by a near enough replica of the curtain from the UK tour, with the only difference being that the door was static and did not open.

7:30pm show time, the curtain rises for the start of the show, which is different than the tour. Normally the curtain would rise part way into the opening number, but this did not impact the production . The set was revealed and I was impressed on how close it was to the real thing, with a few slight differences but this made it unique whilst still having the same charm, feel and atmosphere of the real production. For example the conveyer-belt did not move but they made up this with slight of hand movements and also the finale catwalk. In this production is was smaller and static. In the real production it was longer and would open up to create a universe shape and style. Once again this did not impact the show, in fact it helped and created a new energy and style whilst keeping in theme and keeping in line with the original. As for the costumes, all I need to say on them is that they were pretty much identical to the real thing.

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The cast were amazing and extremely professional, I cannot fault them enough.

In the role of Charlie Price we had Matthew Parker. One thing I have to mention about Matthew, I adored the quirky and unexpected comedic elements he put into his portrayal. In fact that along with his accent I got extreme Jack Whitehall vibes.

Next up in a roll of Lola/Simon we had Carl Holdway-Bradley. Three words, iconic perfection & camp. He was my ideal Lola, and gave me everything I could’ve ever wanted in this character. Whilst talking about Lola, I would like to mention the amazingly talented makeup artist who worked with Carl. Izzy MacGregor (@makeupbyizzmac on Instagram) worked her amazing skills to bring this character to life, You can see she has an amazing set of skills Of which i have witnessed personally in college on our course, and I am thrilled to say that she is going to university this year which I know she is so excited about.

And that is just the start of the amazing cast. A full cast list can be seen below:

This production had me feeling so many emotions despite me seeing this show many times before. It was like i was seeing it again for the ver first time.

Now if you can do that, then you are 100% doing something right.

I highly recommend this production. If you have seen the pro shot, if you have seen it on Broadway or West End or on tour, and you live in , or near Yeovil please come and support this outstanding cast. I promise you, you will not be disappointed. The production is so similar to the UK tour that you almost cannot tell the difference:. If you cant take my word for it.. Take the word of everyone who gave a

standing-ovation on opening night. The same people who raised the roof at any given moment to show their apprication and love for the cast, the theatre industry, the story and the LGBTQ+ community

Performances are run up until the Saturday 19th of March when the last performance will perform. Tickets are sellling faster than Lola herself can snap her fan. So be quick.

Tickets : £20 standard rate / £18 concession

A link to purchase will be below.

https://www.octagon-theatre.co.uk/whats-on/all-shows/kinky-boots-yaos/8306#details