This summer, Theatre Royal Drury Lane welcomes three musicals in exclusive concert versions. Performed alongside the London Musical Theatre Orchestra, Cold-war inspired Chess, glamorously fun Kinky Boots and explosive brand-new Treason take to the stage across the month of August.
The second of the trio, Kinky Boots (performed on Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 August), is based on a mostly-true story and 2005 film of the same name, set around a struggling shoe factory in Northampton that is taken over begrudgingly by Charlie Price after the sudden death of his father. Joel Harper-Jackson reprised the role of Price, having performed the role on the UK tour of the show, after Matt Willis dropped out because of scheduling conflicts. Harper-Jackson’s portrayal of Price had a youthful, goofy charm that made him easy to root for in both his professional and romantic predicaments. His performance of Step One was delivered with ease, despite the song often seeming a challenging mixture of rock and musical theatre.
Courtney Bowman starred as factory worker Lauren after debuting History of Wrong Guys at West End LIVE just over a month ago. She had fine-tuned the role plenty since then and her characterisation was hilarious. Through the subtlest of glances she conveyed so much emotion and was a joy to watch from beginning to end.
Undoubtedly, the stand out of the night was Cedric Neal – who you would have thought had been playing the role of Lola / Simon for months on end – this was not a first night performance! He immediately lit up the stage in his first big number Land Of Lola with dazzling vivacity that was upheld until the emotional moment of Hold Me In Your Heart towards the end of the show. His authentic and moving performance had many of the audience up on their feet to give a standing ovation.
My only slight nag about the show is that to say it is set in Northampton, many of the actors’ accents border far more on generic northern / Yorkshire accents. However, my friend who came to see the show with me is actually from Northampton was actually very impressed with Joel Harper-Jackson’s accent, and for a two night run its admittedly too specific a detail to worry about!
Kinky Boots is the ultimate feel-good musical – the finale of Raise You Up / Just Be had the audience clapping and dancing away. Theatre Royal was filled with a buzzing atmosphere that not many shows can create. Its soundtrack was brought to new heights by being performed by the London Musical Theatre Orchestra, led by Freddie Tapner. Although a concert version, the show retained plenty of dialogue, costume and dance routines. Kinky Boots is a musical that connects to and uplifts its audience, and taking away some of the pomp and grandeur of the original production only thrust its emotional impact into the spotlight even more.
Although I didn’t get chance to see the first of the three shows, Chess, I’m really glad I went to see Kinky Boots last week, and am very looking forward to seeing Treason, a concert version of a brand-new musical, very soon. In a way, I’m glad I saw Kinky Boots for the first time as a concert, as I was dazzled by the songs without being potentially underwhelmed by its stripped-back form. However, I now really hope the full production of Kinky Boots does return to the West End someday soon, as now I am dying to see it in its full form!
Have you seen a concert version of a musical before?
Production photos credit to Mark Senior
