Theatre review: Kinky Boots

If it's one of the biggest new musical openings of the year, then chances are Killian Donnelly's involved: He plays Charlie, who's been trying to escape Northampton all his life, and has finally moved to London with his girlfriend when he gets news of his father's sudden death. He's left behind the shoe factory that's been in their family for generations, but once he gets his hands on the books Charlie realises the factory is failing. The only solution is to close it, and put the staff he's known all his life out of a job, unless he can find a new niche market for the company to specialise in. A chance encounter with drag queen Lola (Matt Henry) provides just that; soon Price & Son are exclusively manufacturing Kinky Boots, in Harvey Fierstein (book) and Cyndi Lauper's (music & lyrics) adaptation of Geoff Deane and Tim Firth's hit 2005 film.

Theatre review: Memphis

PREVIEW DISCLAIMER: The papers get invited in tomorrow.

Usually when a show has a creative whose previous work had quite a healthy London run, that fact is plastered across the publicity, but funnily enough the latest feel-good, big-budget Broadway musical import doesn't say "FROM THE WRITER OF FUCKING MEN!" on the posters. Joe DiPietro provides the book for Memphis, with music by David Bryan and lyrics by both. Set throughout the 1950s, the titular city is still segregated, something that extends to the radio, with the mainstream stations playing songs by white artists, and black music restricted to specialist stations with a limited range. Killian Donnelly plays Huey (Jon Robyns alternates at certain performances*, the rest of the time getting a cheesy turn as Perry Como,) a white DJ who's gone to black clubs and churches to hear their music, and manages to get black artists played on a mainstream station.

Theatre review: The Commitments

PREVIEW DISCLAIMER: This review is of the final preview performance.

The latest in a series known as "Jamie Lloyd must have a fucking enormous mortgage to pay off," the ubiquitous director tackles a big West End musical - or, as they're insisting, a play with songs - as Roddy Doyle brings his best-known book The Commitments to the stage. In 1986, Jimmy (Denis Grindel) works in the offices of a sweet manufacturer but believes his true calling lies in managing a band. Spotting what he thinks is a gap in the market for soul music that speaks to the working class, he advertises for a band to cover soul classics with a Dublin twist. Mentored by their trumpet player Joey (Ben Fox,) who claims to have played with all the greats, The Commitments go from disastrous beginnings to real crowd-pleasing promise, but their story is destined to end before it really begins.