Kinky Boots The Musical at the cinema – filmed live at the Adelphi Theatre

Matt Henry at the cast and crew screening of Kinky Boots at Vue Cinema West End. Pictures: Darren Bell

Kinky Boots The Musical at the cinema – filmed live at the Adelphi Theatre, London.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

The multiple Tony- and Olivier-winning musical Kinky Boots sashays its way into cinemas this February, completing something of a loop. The musical, inspired by the 2005 Miramax movie of the same name – itself inspired by a TV documentary broadcast in 1999 – returns to the big screen in the shape of a live recording of the stage show made for More2Screen during the show’s run at the Adelphi Theatre in London.

This recording, taped over three days in November 2018, reunites the original London stars (and Olivier nominees) Killian Donnelly and Matt Henry, who stepped in specially. And as with most broadcasts of theatre productions, the cinematic treatment offers viewers better-than-front-row access to the action.

Just in case you missed the original episode of the Trouble at the Top TV show, the original movie, or one of the 2,500 performances on Broadway, 1,400 performances in the West End or any of the touring and overseas versions, Kinky Boots tells the story of Charlie (Donnelly), who inherits his Northampton family’s down-at-heel shoe business. In a desperate, last-ditch attempt to save the firm from receivership, Charlie – inspired by an encounter with drag queen Lola (Henry), whose high heels keep snapping off – turns to producing fetishwear for male clientele.

Harvey Fierstein, no stranger to the drag-queen scene (Torch Song Trilogy, La Cage aux Folles, Hairspray), was hired to write the book, and in turn secured the songwriting efforts of his chum Cyndi Lauper – the pop queen responsible most famously for ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ but also countless other Billboard hits. Jerry Mitchell staged the show originally, which opened in Chicago in 2012, then Broadway in 2013, winning six of its 13 Tony nominations in 2014, including Best New Musical.

The show opened in the UK in August 2015, with Donnelly and Henry in the lead roles. As on Broadway, it fared well in award season, securing Oliviers for Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Henry) and Best Costume Design. It proved to be a hit with audiences too, running for more than 1,400 performances before closing in early 2019.

The show was captured on video in 2018 and has already been screened in the USA, airing in June 2019. I’m not sure why there’s been such a delay in it making it the UK – co-producer Hal Luftig, who introduced the cast and crew screening I attended, didn’t reveal why – but it’s a welcome opportunity for those who either missed the show or want to relive it.

Olivia Winterflood, Abbey Adams and Hannah Price at the cast and crew cinema screening

Joining Donnelly and Henry for this filmed recording are Natalie McQueen as Lauren, Sean Needham as Don, Cordelia Farnworth as Nicola and Antony Reed as George. Everyone appears to be having the time of their lives up there, perhaps higher than usual on the adrenaline that must come from knowing that the cameras are in the house.

There’s no denying that Kinky Boots is a life-affirming, feel-good story, and seeing it on a cinema screen only serves to envelope you even more snuggly into the drama. Its messages of diversity, acceptance, community, respect, and so on continue to resonate, arguably more so than ever, so it’s heartening to see it be made available to a wider audience than your typical West End crowd. It also looks and sounds stunningly good on the big screen – it’s a colourful show anyway, but now it’s ripe with the lushness and depth that you only get at the movies.

On saying that, the unforgiving HD quality at times shows a little too much – there’s no escaping the wig lines! And from my vantage point in the second row of the cinema, the cutting in of (unexpected and I’d suggest not needed) onstage footage, which was presumably recorded separately to the main live shows, can be a little dizzying at times. Otherwise, it’s a faithful capturing of the show in all its sequinned glory.

So, if you didn’t see the show first time around, or just want to revisit the factories of the Midlands and the catwalks of Milan, then don’t miss the chance to see Kinky Boots writ large.

Craig Glenday

• Kinky Boots will be screened in more than 600 cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 4 and 9 February 2020. Running time: 133 minutes (70 minutes, 10-minute interval, 53 minutes), BBFC rating: 12A.