No business like shoe business for the Kinky Boots boys
KILLIAN DONNELLY and Matt Henry are being measured up for Kinky Boots. The two actors have been picked to lead the award- winning Broadway show into the Adelphi Theatre. The musical is based on a film — and real-life story — about how a drag queen (Lola; real name Simon) helped a Northampton shoe factory survive by designing thigh-high, stiletto boots for men who prefer their footwear to be flamboyant.
As with all successful musicals, Kinky Boots is underpinned by a great storyline. It explores the conflicted relationships Charlie (Donnelly), whose late father has left him a shoe business in need of repair, and Lola (Henry) had with their fathers. ‘You can change the world if you change your mind — just be who you want to be. That’s what you come away with,’ said Donnelly, who will leave the musical Memphis at the start of July in order to begin rehearsals with director Jerry Mitchell, book writer Harvey Fierstein and composer Cyndi Lauper.
The actor, who hails from Kilmessan in Co. Meath, has already had his measurements taken for his boots. ‘They went: “What size are you? Take off your socks and your trousers.” I was standing there in my underpants while she was measuring the circumference of my thigh, my leg, each toe — and parts of the foot I never even knew existed,’ Donnelly told me.
Henry has yet to go through that experience, but he told me he can already walk in high heels.
The singer-actor, whose 2013 auditions on The Voice have been viewed several million times on YouTube, said he bought a pair of women’s heels from eBay and wore them when he met the Kinky Boots casting director.
‘I pitched up in heels because I have worn them before, professionally,’ he said, adding that between jobs he has taught models to ‘catwalk’ in heels.
‘As Lola, I have to wear a lot of heels, and practising helps to build up the calf muscles,’ Henry said.
Director Mitchell warned that the lads haven’t seen anything yet.
‘There’s one number where Lola has to dance in skinny six-inch stilettos. It’s a tough one. In fact, I’m having a pair made for myself for when I choreograph the number.’
Previews start at the Adelphi Theatre on August 21, with an official first night on September 15.