These Kinky Boots Are Made For Dancing

With the Australian Premiere of Tony Award winning Kinky Boots in Melbourne approaching, Coral Drouyn muses on shoes, pop divas and men in women’s roles as she talks to the young star of the show, Toby Francis.

Smash hit Broadway musical Kinky Boots is the latest in the theatrical tradition of men in female clothes.

Since the days of Greek theatre, through to Shakespeare’s Globe, then English pantomimes, there have always been men in frocks playing female roles.

Then, if you add Geoffrey Rush and David Suchet as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest, and the marvellous Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, with James Millar, as well as all the skilled cabaret performers who work in drag, you can see that it isn’t a novelty.

What IS a novelty is that Kinky Boots is completely dependent on a man in drag for its very existence. The show, with a book by Harvey Fierstein, and music and lyrics by the legendary Cyndi Lauper, is adapted from the British movie of the same name. The story concerns an up-market shoe company which can no longer find a market for its quality shoes and is facing bankruptcy until it’s saved by a glamorous drag queen who needs quality stilettos for her shows.

If it all sounds a bit contrived, then you’ll be surprised to know that truth is stranger than fiction. Yes, the story is true. The original Kinky Boot maker, Steve Pateman (called Charlie Price in the film and the musical), faced going bankrupt until a shoe store asked for a special order for a drag queen cabaret performer who requested some hand-made boots. And Steve did take the glamorous footwear “on the road” and modelled them for the catalogue that followed, having to shave his legs in the process, which wasn’t altogether welcomed by his wife and son.

The story spawned the film, the film spawned the musical, so the next logical step is Kinky Boots the Video Game – no doubt with Charlie and Lola trying to rescue the stolen infamous red thigh-high stiletto boots. And let’s face it, if you have the legs for them, who wouldn’t want a pair of thigh high soft leather red boots?

“But it’s a show about human relationships rather than drag queens,” Toby Francis, who plays Charlie in the Australian production, tells me. “It’s about accepting people for who they are, and changing your mind, and even your life path in the face of adversity. It’s also about fathers and sons, often the most difficult relationships. No matter what life throws at you, there is always a second chance if you’re brave enough to take it. It’s genuinely uplifting, in the way all the best musicals are, so it’s really for everybody.”

Even before auditioning for the show, Toby was a huge fan of the movie.

“I love those British comedies which have real heart, and are slightly offbeat, like The Full Monty and Brassed Off,” he enthuses, “and Kinky Boots is one of those. Plus, my mum is probably Cindy Lauper’s greatest fan and would always sing her songs around the house, so I love her music. I was lovingly brainwashed into being a Lauper fan from childhood. That’s why I auditioned for the show, but I really didn’t think I had any chance of getting in.”

There is a strong connection between Australia and Kinky Boots. The lead role of Charlie in the film was played by Aussie actor Joel Edgerton, and Cyndi Lauper has visited our shores many times, even being a mentor on a TV talent programme.

“I thought she might come out for the auditions,” Toby says, “then I could tell my mum I had met her. Fingers crossed she comes out during the season. I know she loves it here.”

Though Lauper is known for her great pop songs, she grew up listening to show tunes from South Pacific and West Side Story, which her parents loved, so when friend Harvey Fierstein suggested that she write the score, there was no way she was going to refuse.

"How much of a stretch is it for me to write songs about fashion, funny relationships, people changing their minds and shoes?" she says.

Lauper wrote the songs by singing the melodies into her iPhone and then sending them to her orchestrator. It’s her gift for melody and lyrics, rather than technical skills, which makes her so special.

“She writes melodies that stay with you,” Toby says, “and that’s really important with a musical. There can’t be anybody who doesn’t know the melody to ‘True Colours’. It takes a very special talent to create something that stays with you, always at the back of your mind.”

Toby is one of those versatile artists you might have seen in musicals, or in his own award winning cabarets, or even as one of The Ten Tenors, an international group of great singers, but not on the main stage in a Broadway Musical. He produced a sell-out season of Rent at the Hayes Theatre in Sydney and is an alumni of the Australian Institute of Music.

“In Australia you have to diversify, because you can’t rely on there being a role for you, while there’s always great talent up against you. It’s so hard, but you have to persevere. The breaks come when you least expect them,” he reflects.

Toby’s rock is his partner of 12 years, Lauren. “She encourages me to try things I might not go for otherwise, and when I got through the first audition, she burst into tears. She is so supportive.”

But between the first and second auditions, Toby took off for an overseas tour with The Ten Tenors.

“I know it doesn’t sound very cool, but it was my first time out of Australia. I never did the Bali Holiday thing, or the Gap Year adventure,” he explains. “I was with the rest of the group and the work and the places were exciting, but I missed Australia so much. And then, when we were doing a gig in Chicago, I got a call from my agent asking me if I could fly to New York to audition for the director, Jerry Mitchell, and I said of course, even though I was terrified inside.”

Jerry Mitchell was part of the creative team even before the writers, so he knew exactly what he wanted. When Toby discovered that Mitchell was actually going to be in Chicago preparing for the opening of the show there, he took the bull by the horns and asked his agent to let them know he could audition there.

“It was a huge thrill to be asked,” he says, “and I had nothing to lose. I left the theatre knowing I’d done what I could and I thought ‘that’s it, they’ll take weeks to decide and I’ll probably never hear from them again, and that’s show business.”

But Toby was only back in the hotel for an hour when his agent skyped him.

“She said, ‘you might want to sit down. They said yes, you’ve got the part.’

At first I didn’t believe her, but by the time the call ended I was convinced. And then, the worst part, there was no-one there for me to celebrate with. The rest of the group had already left for the next city, and all my family and friends were in Australia. I called Lauren. She burst into tears and I so wanted to hug her.” Toby is genuinely emotional as he talks about the love of his life. “So, I ordered a pizza and a beer from room service and I celebrated alone. But I just missed everyone who is close to me.”

Toby can’t wait to get stuck into rehearsals.

“I have the red boots and I’m practising walking in them every day. It was hilarious for the first week,” he tells me. “I’m heavily into the script now, as well as the music, and I love the fact that every time I read it I find something new in there.”

By sheer coincidence Toby’s co-star who plays Lola has the same surname. Callum Francis has been playing the role in the West End.

“We’ve become great mates through social media and I guess we have something of a bro-mance going. He is great, very open and generous and a wonderful performer. He’s Scottish and Jamaican and he’s been acting since he was nine. He’s only 20 now and he’s a West End star. That’s pretty amazing. I can’t wait to give him a man hug in person,” Toby enthuses. “I think of every job as a chance to learn something new, and get better at what I do, but it’s even more special when you just know it’s going to be one of the best experiences of your life."

Images from the Australian production of Kinky Boots - Photographer: Matthew Murphy.

Originally published in the September / October 2016 edition of Stage Whispers.

Kinky Boots is playing at Her Majesty's Theatre Melbourne.