A timeline of ‘Kinky Boots’ in the West End and beyond

As the award-winning musical returns to London, learn all about its journey in the West End, on Broadway, and around the world.

Summary

• Kinky Boots is returning to London in a major revival
• The London Coliseum production stars Strictly Come Dancing pro Johannes Radebe
• The award-winning production opened on Broadway in 2013
• It had its West End premiere in 2015

Everybody say yeah! The Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning musical Kinky Boots is strutting back into town for a fabulous revival at the London Coliseum, led by Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Johannes Radebe.

He stars as Lola, the drag queen who teams up with fourth-generation shoe company owner Charlie Price to help save his failing family business by producing boots designed for performers like Lola. This incredible story, inspired by real events, has been turned into a life-affirming musical with a book by Harvey Fierstein and songs by pop legend Cyndi Lauper.

Ahead of your visit to Kinky Boots’s London return, follow in the show’s stylish footsteps from premiere to its fabulous tours and revivals.

Book Kinky Boots tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

2012: Kinky Boots has its Chicago tryout

The show burst onto the stage at Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre in October 2012, directed and choreographed by the experienced Jerry Mitchell, with scenic design by David Rockwell and those all-important costumes by Gregg Barnes. The tryout was a big success, although the team did make some key tweaks such as adding two new songs and revising parts of the book.

2013: Kinky Boots premieres on Broadway

Kinky Boots had its official Broadway opening in April 2013 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. It retained its Chicago creative team, and also its hugely praised lead cast: Billy Porter as Lola, Stark Sands as Charlie, and Annaleigh Ashford as Charlie’s love interest Lauren.

The show was a huge commercial and critical success, setting a new box office record at the theatre and recouping within 30 weeks of performances. It ran for 34 previews and 2,507 performances altogether, closing in April 2019.

2013: Kinky Boots wins six Tony Awards

The show became the season favourite with a pack-leading 13 Tony nominations, and converted six of them into major wins: Best Musical, Best Original Score for Cyndi Lauper, Best Actor in a Musical for Billy Porter, Best Choreography for Jerry Mitchell, Best Sound Design for John Shivers, and Best Orchestrations for Stephen Oremus.

Porter also won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, and the following year the show won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

2014: Kinky Boots goes on tour

The show began its North American tour in September 2014 at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas. Kyle Taylor Parker starred as Lola, although Porter joined the tour briefly in August so that he could perform in his home town of Pittsburgh. The tour ran until June 2017.

2014: Kinky Boots heads to South Korea

The musical had its first Asian production at Seoul’s Chungmu Art Hall from December 2014 and proved the international appeal of this heart-warming show. It has since returned to Asia several times, including for multiple productions in Japan and one in the Philippines.

2015: Kinky Boots opens in Toronto

The first Canadian production, led by Alan Mingo Jr. as Lola and Graham Scott Fleming as Charlie, opened at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre in June 2015. It was an immediate hit and the initially planned limited run was extended twice: it ran until May 2016.

2015: Kinky Boots opens in the West End

UK audiences got their chance to join the well-heeled revolution when Kinky Boots made its London transfer, opening at the Adelphi Theatre in September 2015. The new West End cast was led by Killian Donnelly as Charlie, Matt Henry as Lola, and Amy Lennox as Lauren.

The show was a big hit on this side of the Atlantic, playing for more than 1,400 performances altogether and running at the Adelphi for nearly four years, until January 2019.

2016: Kinky Boots travels to Australia

The show made its Australian premiere at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne in October 2016, led by Callum Francis (who travelled over to reprise his performance of Lola from the London production, where he was first cover), Toby Francis and Sophie Wright. The hit production also played in Sydney and Brisbane.

2017: Kinky Boots triumphs at the Olivier Awards

The show repeated its Tony feat by winning Best New Musical at the 2017 Oliviers. Matt Henry also followed in Porter’s footsteps by winning Best Actor in a Musical (Donnelly was nominated too), and Gregg Barnes won for Best Costume Design, making it three awards in all.

2017: Kinky Boots opens in Poland

The show has charmed European audiences, beginning in Warsaw in July 2017, and since playing in Germany, Spain, Denmark, and Estonia.

2018: Kinky Boots goes on a UK tour

The first UK tour of the musical launched in September 2018 at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton – highly appropriate since Northampton is the setting for this amazing story. It travelled the country until its final stop in November 2019 in Hull.

2022: Kinky Boots runs Off-Broadway

The show had a New York revival at Stage 42 in 2022, starring Callum Francis, Christian Douglas and British actress Danielle Hope. The creative team made some changes for this production, from trimming back some material to updating the show’s language around and depiction of gender non-conforming identities; for example, Lola adopted they/them pronouns. The successful production ran for 32 previews and 102 performances.

2022: Kinky Boots plays the Hollywood Bowl

The show had a special presentation in July 2022, helmed by Mitchell, with Wayne Brady and Jake Shears, who had previously played Lola and Charlie on Broadway, reprising their roles. Kelly Marie Tran joined them to play Lauren.

2025: Kinky Boots gets a fresh UK revival

A non-replica UK and Ireland tour of the show began performances at Leicester’s Curve in January 2025, directed by Curve’s artistic director Nikolai Foster. The production was led by Strictly Come Dancing fan favourite and inspiring South African pro dancer Johannes Radebe as Lola, as well as Dan Partridge as Charlie, and Courtney Bowman as Lauren.

2026: Kinky Boots returns to the West End

Foster’s acclaimed production of Kinky Boots is now coming to London, with Radebe making his West End debut as Lola in this major revival at the London Coliseum. Matt Cardle joins as Charlie Price and Tosh Wanogho-Maud, who is currently starring as Lola in the European leg of the tour, is cast as Alternate Lola.

Radebe has spoken about the importance to him of starring in a show “about accepting people for who they are”, and his thrill at performing at the “world-famous, iconic London Coliseum”. Composer Cyndi Lauper added: “I’m so thrilled that Kinky Boots is returning home to London! When audiences, leave the show, they feel happy and uplifted, and that’s something the world could really use right now.”

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Main image credit: Johannes Radebe in Kinky Boots (Photo courtesy of the production). Inset: Stark Sands and Billy Porter on Broadway, Matt Henry in the West End, Johannes Radebe in London (Photos by Matthew Murphy, Matt Crockett, Charlie Flint)