Kinky Boots 'coming home' to Northampton where the show is set

Kinky Boots is about a shoe factory that starts making boots for drag artists, instead of traditional men's shoes

A stage show about a struggling shoe factory that inspired the film Kinky Boots is "coming home".

The musical will be performed by a local cast, on a Northampton stage, in the county where the musical is set.

Luke White, who plays the lead Lola, from Irthlingborough, said: "I'm so proud to bring it home."

The show nearly did not go ahead after autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) was discovered in the venue, The Royal and Derngate, in September.

Luke White (second from left) said most of the actors have been trained in singing and dancing but they are just not paid

The Northampton Musical Theatre Company started rehearsing in June but last month the Derngate was closed and they had to wait four weeks to see if the show could go on.

"I had sleepless nights," Mr White, 31, said.

"We've all been working so hard to bring it home.

"There was so much uncertainty; we were told to just keep going as it was better at that point to have a show and not be able to put it on then stop rehearsals and then told we could put it on."

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He said that as no replacement venue could be found the cast and crew had to just hope the theatre could reopen in time.

"We were absolutely elated to find out we could finally bring a really good show to the Derngate.

"It's coming home."

The story of Kinky Boots was inspired by a BBC Documentary, Trouble at the Top: The Kinky Boot Factory about Steve Pateman.

He was the boss of traditional shoemaker WJ Brookes in Earls Barton near Northampton, which started making women's shoes in men's sizes for transgender people, drag artists and anyone else who wanted them.

Luke White (right) with Steve Pateman (left), the man who inspired the musical, and Dan Hodson (middle), who is playing Charlie Price, a character loosely based on Steve

A Miramax film was based on the story, and then it was adapted into the musical, with tunes by Cyndi Lauper, moving the story a few miles west to Northampton, in a fictional factory called Price & Son.

Mr White said bringing the Northampton accent to the stage felt very "authentic and special".

"It's very strange because we usually put on other accents, but this is how we all normally talk, but it's been lovely to hear.

"This is for my mum who was born and bred in Northampton."

Kinky Boots runs Tuesday to Saturday at the Derngate.

Northampton Musical Theatre Company was established 125 years ago