Kinky Boots is back in the West End! This glittering revival, helmed by Nicolai Foster, brings together a combo that completely works on paper: Johannes Radebe stepping as Lola and Matt Cardle as struggling shoemaker Charlie.

With a feel-good story inspired by real events, a heart-filled script by Harvey Fierstein, and a pop-powered score from Cyndi Lauper, this latest outing has all the ingredients to raise the roof. But are critics kicking their heels in delight - or left wanting a better fit?

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Kinky Boots London Reviews

"Johannes Radebe (AKA Jojo from Strictly) is a born performer. He is utterly magnetic on stage, and when he's dancing you can't take your eyes off him. The role of the drag queen Lola in Kinky Boots could have been written for Radebe, whose entrances alone are a thing to behold rising from a trapdoor, say, draped in a floor-length crimson gown and wearing a curly blond wig, part Diana Ross, part Whitney Houston." - The Guardian

"In short, there's plenty to enjoy from this latest popular musical to play theatreland's largest venue, which is usually the home of English National Opera. However well-worn those red boots may now be, there's an undeniably nostalgic enjoyment about slipping into them one more time." - London Theatre

"It's a larger-than-life interpretation. Everything from Leah Hill's pugnacious choreography to a fabulous Greek chorus of drag queens seems bigger and bolder. The Leicester Curve artistic director knows how to make this musical sing out loud and proud. Robert Jones' set design offers a very real factory setting packed with sewing machines, reams of leather and a recalcitrant workforce, but the Milan showroom finale is a riot of light, colour and pizzazz" -

The Stage

"This show's not-so-secret weapon is Strictly Come Dancing professional Radebe, who is a tornado of charisma as Lola. It's hard to think of another role better suited for his theatre debut. Unsurprisingly, he burns up the choreography, turning the stage into a runway. But he also brings an intensity to this larger-than-life character that's operatic in pitch and disco-fabulous in tone. And he wears the hell out of Robert Jones and Tom Rogers' glitteringly ethereal costumes." - Time Out

"Robert Jones's shop-floor design, edged with red lights, amply fills the Coliseum's broad space; the costumes he has created with Tom Rogers are an evocative combination of glamour and workaday. Harvey Fierstein's book avoids overplaying the uplift. There were groans from some audience members when Price let loose some homophobic slurs but what would be the point of airbrushing prejudice out of the story?" - The Times