Cast in his first major musical role, the statuesque South African is the perfect fit as boxer turned drag queen Lola – and his fan base had certainly turned out at The Coliseum last weekend.
Lola and her sassy band of drag performers The Angels bring a splash of colour and energy to a drab Northampton shoe factory run by Charlie. (Not X Factor star Matt Cardle who was unwell but a creditable stand-in from Liam Doyle.)
Charlie’s dream of escape to London with his heartless fiancee are scuppered by his father’s untimely death as he’s forced to take over the factory.
This lightly-plotted based-on-a-true story revolves around the re-vamp of the ailing business as he pivots to sell ‘kinky boots’ to the Milan fashion buyers.
Along the way Courtney Bowman’s factory worker Lauren (excellent comic timing) is on hand to pull him to her ample breast, and Lola to teach him how to get in touch with his feminine side.
Oddly it’s two New Yorkers – Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein – who are the storytellers dramatizing the unenlightened gender attitudes of a small Midlands town circa 1990.
But neither book nor songs offer enough to buy a ticket to a show that leans lazily into the North in Northampton – complete with flat caps, vests and tats, and wayward accents.
Instead that honour goes to Radebe who unsurprisingly nails the dance numbers sporting a series of spectacular costumes while delivering Lola’s comic zingers with finesse.
And he holds up well vocally too in ballads such as Not My Father’s Son generating the show’s most heartfelt moments to reveal the vulnerability of the boy who disappointed his macho dad.
He does ‘though keep his accent which makes Lola’s admission to Charlie that he’s really ‘Simon from Clacton’ somewhat farcical – surely a tweaked line would have added poignancy to a character who had to leave their country to pursue their chosen life?
By the end of the show Lola has even won over unreconstructed factory worker Don to wearing the titular red leather boots.
If there is a message in this muddled paean to non-conformity it’s to accept people for who they are and that everyone would benefit from pulling on a pair of kinky boots now and then.
But for all its faults this is Radebe’s star vehicle and frankly when he’s on stage you can’t take your eyes off him.
Kinky Boots runs at The London Coliseum until July 11.
