Review: Kinky Boots starring Jordan Fox (Charlie Price u/s)

Kinky Boots has been one of my favorite shows for years and I recently got the chance to see it for the fifth time here in the West End. I saw it last month with David Hunter, the lead, playing Charlie Price and while he was amazing, last week I went specifically to see Jordan Fox as Charlie. I'd heard amazing things and I definitely was not disappointed.

I was lucky enough to win the TodayTix lottery, which I cannot recommend enough, and thus got an amazing front row seat for just £20!


Kinky Boots tells the story of Charlie Price who begins making boots for drag queens to save his father's shoes factory. At the heart of the show is his relationship with drag queen, Lola, and how both he and the rest of the factory workers have to come to accept her. Throw in a cute love story, a great message about accepting yourself and others, fun music by Cyndi Lauper, flashy big dance numbers, and you've got an amazing show.

Verity Rushworth is a wonderful and hilarious Lauren who manages to bring charm to the kooky role. She has a lovely voice and her "The History of Wrong Guys" is easily a highlight of the show. She remains relatable and provides a great contrast to Bleu Woodward's Nicola. I must say that Bleu is the best Nicola I've ever seen, simply in that she made a somewhat difficult character quite likable. She has a lovely voice that almost seems wasted on this small role and her Nicola is a driven career woman who is simply unwilling to give up her dreams for a man -- and quite rightly!

I was impressed by Simon-Anthony Rhoden's Lola once again. He has a glorious voice and dance skills to match. Simon also manages to bring both the humor and the drama of the role across equally, whereas I have found that many Lola's are good at one and not the other. (I also have to say that every time I see him, I'm a bit struck by how muscular he is...you definitely can believe that he's a trained fighter like Lola supposedly is!)

Jordan Fox is definitely one of the best Charlie's I've ever seen. He comes across as quite a young Charlie: a young man who has lost his father and is struggling to find his purpose in life. He has a splendid voice and hit Charlie's higher notes seemingly effortlessly. His chemistry with both Simon-Anthony Rhoden and Verity Rushworth was lovely. I will also say that he used his shorter height to his advantage, which made scenes with factory worker Don even funnier than normal.

Charlie can be a bit of a hard role, in that in many scenes, he comes across as a bit of a jerk, yet the musical doesn't seem to function properly if he's not lovable. Jordan is the only Charlie I've seen who maintained his likability the entire way through the show. Several lines I've normally seen delivered harshly, he said with an apologetic smile. He also broke into tears in several different moments (his voicemail to Lola at the beginning of "Hold Me in Your Heart" was particularly poignant). He brought me to tears more than I thought you could cry in a feel-good show like Kinky Boots!


I've now seen Kinky Boots now on Broadway twice, the US tour, and in the West End twice and there's something special about this current cast here in London. I can't recommend this beautiful show with upbeat music and a lovely message enough. When people are going to New York or London, it's always one of the things I suggest they see!

You can buy tickets to see Kinky Boots here or via TodayTix.
Blogger Template Created by pipdig