Kinky Boots
Book · Musical · 2012
Charlie Price grows up as the fourth-generation scion in the family business, Price & Son, a shoe manufacturing company with its factory in Northampton. Another young boy, growing up in London, is as fascinated by shoes as Charlie is bored by them. But in this case, it is a pair of red women's heels that have attracted his attention, aggravating his strict father. Years pass. Charlie's father is aging and hopes Charlie will take over the business. Still, Charlie is eager to move to London with his status-conscious fiancée, Nicola, and pursue a real estate career ("The Most Beautiful Thing"). Charlie has barely made it into his new flat in London when his father dies suddenly. Charlie hurries home for the funeral, where he finds the factory near bankruptcy. The factory makes good quality men's shoes, but they're neither stylish nor affordable, and the market for them is drying up. Though Charlie has no desire to run Price & Sons, he is determined to save the factory and his father's legacy. The workers, many of whom have known Charlie his entire life, do not understand why Charlie moved away in the first place, and many are hostile and skeptical of the new management. Returning to London, Charlie meets friend and fellow shoe salesman, Harry, in a pub to ask for help. Harry can only offer a temporary solution and advises Charlie not to fight the inevitable ("Take What You Got"). Leaving the pub, Charlie witnesses a woman being accosted by two drunks. He intervenes and is knocked unconscious. He comes to in a seedy nightclub, where the woman he attempted to rescue is revealed to have been the club's drag queen headliner, Lola, who performs with his backup troupe, the "angels" ("Land of Lola"). Recuperating from his ordeal in Lola's dressing room, an uncomfortable Charlie notices that the performers' high-heeled boots are not designed to hold a man's weight. Lola explains that the costly and unreliable footwear is an essential part of any drag act. Charlie returns to the factory and begins reluctantly laying off his workers. Lauren, one of the women on the assembly line, explodes at Charlie when given her notice and stubbornly tells him that other struggling shoe factories have survived by entering an "underserved niche market." This gives Charlie an idea ("Land of Lola" {Reprise}), and he invites Lola to come to the factory to help him design a women's boot that can be comfortable for a man ("Charlie's Soliloquy"/"Step One"). Lola and the angels arrive at the factory, and he is immediately dissatisfied with Charlie's first design of the boot. Quickly getting the women of the factory on his side, Lola draws a quick design of a boot, explaining that the most important factor is by far the heel ("The Sex is in the Heel"). George, the factory manager, realizes a way to make Lola's design practical. An impressed Charlie begs Lola to stay until a prestigious footwear show in Milan in three weeks, to design a new line of "kinky boots" that could save the factory. Lola is reluctant, as he is already receiving crass comments from Don, the foreman, and some of the other workers, but is flattered by Charlie's praise, and finally agrees. Charlie announces that the factory will be moving ahead with production of the boots. He thanks Lauren for giving him the idea and offers her a promotion. She accepts and is horrified but thrilled to realize that she is falling for him ("The History of Wrong Guys"). The next day, Lola shows up in men's clothes and is mocked by Don and his friends. An upset Lola takes refuge in the bathroom, and Charlie attempts to comfort him. Lola explains that his father trained him as a boxer but disowned him when he showed up for a match in drag. The two discover their similarly complex feelings toward their fathers, and Lola introduces himself by his birth name: Simon ("Not My Father's Son"). Nicola and her boss Richard Bailey arrive from London and present Charlie with a plan for the factory that Richard has drawn up: closing it and converting it into condominiums. Charlie refuses but is shocked to discover that his father had agreed to this plan before he died, presumably because Charlie was not there to run it. He refuses to sell, and soon the workers are celebrating as the first pair of "kinky boots" is finished ("Everybody Say Yeah"). Some of the factory workers are not enthusiastic about the radical change in their product line. Some of them, especially the intimidating Don, make Lola feel very unwelcome. Lola taunts him back, enlisting the female factory workers to prove that Lola is closer to a woman's ideal than is Don ("What a Woman Wants"). Lola presents Don with a unique wager to see who is the better "man": Lola will do anything that Don specifies if Don will do the same thing for him. Don's challenge is for Lola to fight him in a boxing match at the pub. Charlie, remembering Lola's background, is horrified. Lola easily scores against Don in the ring, but ultimately lets Don win ("In This Corner"). Afterward, Don asks why Lola let him win, and Lola replies that he could not be so cruel as to humiliate Don in front of his mates. Lola then gives Don his part of the challenge: "accept someone for who they are." Charlie is pouring his own money into the factory to ensure that it will be ready in time for Milan, and he is getting frantic that the product is not right, angrily making his staff redo what he considers shoddy work. Nicola arrives, fed up with Charlie's obsession over the factory, and breaks up with him. Lola has been making some decisions about production and preparations without consulting Charlie. When Charlie discovers that Lola has decided to have his angels wear the boots on the runway rather than hiring professional models, an overwhelmed Charlie lashes out at him, humiliating him in front of the other workers. Lola storms out, and the workers go home. Alone, Charlie struggles with the weight of his father's legacy and what it means to be his own man ("Soul of a Man"). Lauren finds Charlie and tells him to come back to the factory. It is revealed Don has persuaded the workers to return to work and to sacrifice a week's pay to ensure that the boots can be finished in time for Milan. The astonished and grateful Charlie asks Don if he has paid up on his wager by accepting Lola. Lauren explains that the person that Don has accepted is Charlie himself. As he heads to the airport for Milan, Charlie leaves a heartfelt apology on Lola's voicemail. Meanwhile, Lola performs his act at a nursing home in his hometown. After he leaves the stage, he speaks to his dying father, and reaches a sense of closure ("Hold Me in Your Heart"). Charlie and Lauren arrive in Milan. But without models, Charlie is compelled to walk the runway himself. Lauren is thrilled by his dedication ("The History of Wrong Guys (Reprise)"), but the show threatens to be a disaster. Just as all seems lost, Lola and his angels arrive to save the day. Lauren and Charlie share their first kiss, and the whole company celebrates the success of the "Kinky Boots" ("Raise You Up/Just Be").