It was only when I watched Kinky Boots in London that I understood how people could watch a show more than once! This is joy on a stage, I saw it 3 times at the Adelphi Theatre, seeing David Hunter as Charlie and Matt Henry as Lola amongst other amazing stage actors. One of my go to YouTube videos is Killian Murphy and Matt Henry singing ‘Not my Father’s Son’. It’s completely beautiful!
On to The Civic Theatre in Chelmsford for the Springers – a group in its’ 40th year, they hale from my part of town, North Springfield, as the name suggests. The group became a registered charity in 2016 and now has 100 members, as well as a youth group.
I’ve been to the Civic a few times recently, to see Merrill Osmond, which was wow! That took me back! He was great! Next up was a performance of stage tunes based around Moulin Rouge, again great! Then came live Dinosaurs, well models anyway, with my grandsons plus 2, a perfect introduction to the theatre for 4-5 year olds!
When I picked up the flyer for Kinky Boots on my doorstep it was a must book! Having seen school performances of big hits I knew the stage would be a good depiction. What I wasn’t expecting was an Amateur production that was as good as, if not better in parts!
While the 6 drag queens were mostly women, with Matt Scott as the only, incredibly brave ‘Angel’ that didn’t detract from the showe overall, as spectacular as the ‘Queens’ are in the pro versions, I marvelled at the height of the heels and the length of the legs in this production too!
The leads in this cast, Charlie Toland as Charlie, Ben Miller as Lola, Lexy Phillps as Lauren were all simpy wonderul, in fact every cast member who sang a solo would have graced any stage.
Ben Miller’s rendition of Not My Father’s Son was as good as anything I’ve seen/ heard on any London Stage. I always marvel at the talent I see on a regular basis, but here we were at a local theatre with a voluntary group who do this for fun. It was quite simply fabulous!
I take a view with 3 theatres in London that I book pretty much everything they produce, all on the Southbank, The Young Viv, The Old Vic and the National. I’ll be making sure to book more at the Civic and especially when the Springers are at play!
365 Happy Days 