Spot On Productions 
The Point, Eastleigh 
Mark Ponsford 
2 December 2022
My first encounter with this show was in London, several months into its original run. It was a midweek matinee, the rain was nothing short of Biblical, and (for reasons we don’t need to go into here) I was in the grumpiest mood imaginable, all set to resist whatever the show might have to offer. By the time the final curtain fell, I left the theatre feeling 10 feet off the ground. Proof again of the power of Theatre, of what it can do for us, and why so many of us treasure it.
Well, I wasn’t in a grumpy mood on Friday evening (nor was it raining), and I had a fair idea of what to expect, but even so, Spot-On’s glorious production was, for me, one of those occasions at which critical faculty went pretty much out of the window. The ingenious achievement of the show’s original creative team was to take an acclaimed (and edgy) Britflick, and reimagine it as a Family (yes indeed) musical. As with the equally ingenious musicalisation of Hairspray, Kinky Boots is a show with something to say, and happily chooses to say it with a hug rather than a slap. Two of the unlikeliest protagonists are flung together literally by sheer fluke… and against all odds, change themselves, their fellows, and (in their own way) the World. Acceptance is the key word, and what better way to communicate it than with a show filled with love, laughter, courage and understanding.
For a company with a track-record so full of fine achievements, this might well be Spot-On’s finest yet. As always, we are assured of a handsome set and lavish costume design; and the sound balance and intricate lighting were, as ever, exemplary. Director Alick Leech has again marshalled a large company with great skill, and guided principals and ensemble into delivering pitch-perfect performances filled with detail, with not a weak link to be seen. Matt Lemon’s Musical Direction was, as always, first class, and the terrific 11-piece orchestra powered through that hugely enjoyable score with polish and style. Abbie Jennings’ slick and inventive choreography showed the company’s collective talent to the full, not least with regard to the numbers involving Lola’s ‘Angels’, the glorious Drag Queens, whose every appearance was greeted with cheers of delight from the capacity audience.
On the surface, it’s a straight(ish)forward plot. Charlie Price, reluctantly obliged to take over the running of his late father’s ailing shoe factory, encounters Lola, a Drag Queen in need of a heel that doesn’t break – although to be fair, the reason her heel broke so easily is that she’d inadvertently walloped Charlie in the face with it. (If you’ve seen the show, you’ll know why.) The idea: Price and Son’s shoe factory will change tactic and image by designing footwear for a very specific type of clientele! But there’s a lot more to it than that, not least Lola’s journey towards acceptance by Don, the most aggressively masculine member of the workforce. In fact, it might be Don who, during the course of the show, goes on the biggest journey of all, a journey vividly conveyed in Matt Broadway’s finely developed performance. There’s love interest too, and the course of true love isn’t uneventful. As Charlie’s ambitious fiancée Nicola, Holly Ind is here required to rein in her natural warmth as a performer, and delivers an excellent characterisation, even managing to retain our sympathy when she eventually bows to the inevitable, despite having been partially responsible for it. And Eliza O’Reilly, as Lauren, is a revelation – not least a comedic one, when the realisation that she’s falling for her boss sends her into goggle-eyed panic before bringing the house down with the hilarious (if pertinent) ‘History Of Wrong Guys’.
The story’s two heroes – for heroes they both are – Charlie and Lola, played respectively by two versatile and accomplished local names, Matt McGrath and Thom Jones. Matt’s performance develops exquisitely, his character gradually finding his purpose, incredulous as it approaches, elated when it arrives. But it takes a while for Charlie to truly understand, and one of this fine actor’s most powerful moments comes as he listens to Lola’s back-story in the heart-stopping ‘Not My Father’s Son’. His understated acting, as the penny finally drops, is doubly effective, for we are now seeing into Lola’s world through Charlie’s eyes. To anyone hearing this song for the first time, it’s like a gut-punch (the lady to my right was in tears), especially when it’s sung as beautifully as it is here by Thom Jones’ Simon/Lola. Anyone who saw Thom’s astonishing performance in (and as) the Hunchback of Notre Dame at The Point earlier this year, will find it hard to believe (I still do) that this is the same actor, now sassy and resplendent in his heels as Lola, galvanizing everyone around him with his wit and assurance. But as Simon, the man who is Lola, his vulnerability and hurt are palpable, and when towards the end of the show there comes the moment of healing and reconciliation, it was impossible not to be moved by that moment, and in fact by that entire scene. Both Jones and McGrath deliver their musical numbers powerfully and splendidly.
Among a uniformly excellent supporting cast, one can’t ignore (nor would one wish to) the splendid double contribution by Jim Smith, firstly as Charlie’s guitar-playing mate Harry, and in act two as the wildly contrasting Richard, finding full value in a character with as much ambition as Nicola. And then… let’s hear it for simply gorgeous old George, the factory manager, brought to life with warmth and humanity by Graham Barnes, who the audience clearly loved right from the start. But to be honest, the full house on Friday night were ‘with’ the whole show right from the start, and by the time the company reached the climactic and euphoric ‘Raise You Up’, the audience were on their feet, clapping and cheering along, even before the end of the first chorus. You can’t argue with that. Not for a long time will I forget the heart-lifting sight of the entire company singing and dancing in joyful unison… and again, not for the first time, I left the theatre feeling 10 feet off the ground.
