REVIEW: Kinky Boots at Sunderland Empire

Kinky Boots

Sunderland Empire

Until Saturday 6 December 

A fun-filled, feel-good and flamboyant show that is guaranteed to make you smile

It may be panto season, but the Sunderland Empire is holding off on the festivities for just one week longer, bringing Kinky Boots back to the region. Whilst it may not be your traditional festive show, this production is guaranteed to get you smiling and feeling all of the joy and love associated with the Christmas season. With plenty of humour, heart and a fine helping of glitter, this show is exactly what you need on a cold December evening. 

Based on the 2005 film, Kinky Boots is the story of Charlie, an unwilling successor to a failing shoe company, who meets the wonderfully loud Lola, a flamboyant drag queen who opens Charlie’s eyes to a whole new world. The original West End show won several Olivier awards in 2016, including Best New Musical, and, almost ten years on, the show still manages to bring a lot of love and pride. 

Taking on the role of Charlie was Dan Partridge, who manoeuvred Charlie’s complex mood changes with style and confident vocals. Wavering between motivation and disaffection as he struggles to live up to what he believed his father expected of him, Charlie is the good guy, the bad guy, and everything in between. Whilst this largely came across as genuine, the show did at times rush through some of the complexities of Charlie’s character, leaving the audience slightly less sympathetic to his plight than they perhaps could be. 

When it comes to the role of Lola, the words fierce, powerful and fabulous come to mind, and all three are entirely embodied by Tosh Wanogho-Maud, who was absolutely electric as the drag queen. Wanogho-Maud stole the stage in every scene as Lola, with killer moves and a remarkable vocal range, he very much embodied the sparkle and joy of drag. Sex is in the Heel was a particular highlight, a riotous affair that was drowning in sensuality and sparkle. 

My one (very small) gripe was that Wanogho-Maud’s flamboyance as Lola seemed to spill over into his musical performance as Simon. Perhaps this comes down to personal preference as someone who has listened to the original Broadway recording many times, but I’m Not My Father’s Son seemed to just fall short of the emotional showstopper that it is, leaning more towards Lola’s penchant for performance than a baring of Simon’s wounded soul. 

Outside of the two leads, Courtney Bowman stole the show with her effervescent portrayal of unlucky in love Lauren. Bowman managed to effortlessly negotiate the comedic side of Lauren, whilst also helping bring the chaotic Charlie back on track whenever needed. Scott Paige also brought his wonderful sense of comedic timing to the show, whilst Billy Roberts (Don), Joanna O’Hare (Nicola) and Liam Doyle (Harry) also performed some impressive musical numbers.

Jonathan Dryden Taylor performed a stellar opening number, showcasing his substantial singing ability. However, the real spark of genius was casting him in a dual role, seeing him return to the stage as one of the drag queens, or Angels. There’s something genuinely heart-warming to see a slightly older, more demure drag queen, dressed in frumpier frocks and square-shouldered jackets, alongside the short shorts and crop tops of the younger Angels. And my absolute respect to Dryden Taylor - he commits to every dance move and, whilst he lacks the finesse of some of the other performers, there is something wonderfully charming about his performance. I found myself watching him in every scene, so compelling was his commitment to the part.

The set, whilst fairly simplistic, allowed the show to move smoothly between drag performances and shoe-making, with carefully choreographed moves allowing the actors to seamlessly swap their work tables for dance stages. There were also some particularly nice lighting choices, from the sunlight drifting through a ventilation fan in the factory, allowing the light to catch the dust and create a genuinely peaceful moment as Charlie slept in his office, to the lighting up of the iron girders of the factory, turning them from industrial chic to full blown rave. 

As mentioned, I am someone who knows the soundtrack reasonably well, which was just as well, as, not for the first time in Sunderland, the mixing of the music and vocals didn’t seem to be quite right, meaning that the audience missed some crucial lyrics of certain songs. At times, it felt like you had to be concentrating fully on hearing the words, which took you out of the moment somewhat, but admittedly was not problematic or frequent enough to make any real dent on the experience. 

All in all, whilst not perfect, Kinky Boots is a feel-good show that gives us a little bit of what we all need during the cold, dark winter. The songs are fun, the performances are entertaining and the show itself reminds you of the real joy of being yourself, whatever that looks like. To paraphrase the great Nancy Sinatra, these boots are very much made for watchin’.

Review: Hannah Daglish

Photos: Pamela Raith 

Tickets:

Sunderland audiences can catch this glitzy, feel-good musical from 2 to 6 December 2025. Tickets are on sale now at ATGTickets.com/Sunderland.