The London Coliseum revival of Kinky Boots has become a study in contrasts, where the company’s star dancer and a role usually filled by matt cardle sit at the center of attention. Johannes Radebe’s magnetism as Lola — part Diana Ross, part Whitney Houston in presentation — reshapes expectations for a musical that leans heavily on Cyndi Lauper’s pop-rock score, while the casting note that matt cardle is the usual Charlie Price threads through reactions to the revival.
Why this revival matters now
The production matters because it stages a heavyweight dancer in a role that demands both spectacle and emotional restraint. The musical’s book by Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper’s lyrics remain the structural backbone: a story about a Northampton shoe factory refashioned to make thigh-high boots and the culture clash that follows. Radebe’s entrances, often dramatic — rising from a trapdoor in a crimson gown and blond wig — have been singled out as moments that lift individual scenes well beyond the material’s pedestrian tendencies. At the same time, the casting note that matt cardle is the show’s usual Charlie Price but that an understudy performed on one observed night underscores how fragile the balance can be when illness affects lineups in a revival carrying strong star attachments.
Matt Cardle’s Role and the Understudy Night
In this revival, the role of Charlie Price is nominally played by Matt Cardle; he is identified in the production as the usual holder of that part, and his profile as the 2010 X Factor winner is part of the show’s casting conversation. On an observed performance, an understudy, Liam Doyle, covered the role because the usual Charlie was unavailable. That substitution shifted the emotional center: Charlie is the everyman pulled back to the family business after his father’s death, and the pairing of that character with Lola establishes the production’s central emotional throughline. The narrative beats — from a fiance’s declaration of leaving town to the scheme to save the factory — remain intact, but audiences and reviewers have noted how much stage chemistry and charisma can change the sense of propulsion when the marquee casting is not present.
Expert perspectives and production notes
Johannes Radebe, dancer and Strictly star, has been described as a born performer whose movement commands attention; his dancing injects Latin flair into Leah Hill’s choreography and lights up confrontational set-pieces such as a pasodoble that interrupts a boxing scene between Lola and Don. Nikolai Foster, director of the production at the London Coliseum, and designers Robert Jones and Tom Rogers have created a riot of feathers and sparkle that complements that physicality. Courtney Bowman, actor and WhatsOnStage Award winner, and Scott Paige, performer in the role of George, are cited among the full-throttle support sustaining the company when star turns dominate the column inches. The score’s poppy, rocky energy — driven by Cyndi Lauper’s songs including a standout ballad, Not My Father’s Son — is central to how the show masks structural limits in the book, which can at times favor telling over showing.
Production details that frame audience expectations: choreography is credited to Leah Hill; musical supervision to George Dyer; lighting design to Ben Cracknell; and the run is scheduled to continue at the London Coliseum through July 11, 2026. These particulars matter for ticketing and casting dynamics, and they map the technical team that supports the show’s visual and sonic ambitions.
Analysis separates craft from spectacle. When Radebe quiets the stage for a near-still, heartfelt delivery of Not My Father’s Son, the production finds an honesty that the script does not always supply. Conversely, moments of “full-beam” theatricality — grand entrances, feathered costumes, and assertive choreography — can obscure character work, leaving the revival highly enjoyable but, in craft terms, not often transcendental.
Questions about casting resilience follow. How the production reconciles the regular casting of a high-profile Charlie with the realities of illness and understudy performance will be watched closely across the run. The interplay between star-driven spectacle and ensemble steadiness defines the revival’s pulse, whether or not matt cardle is onstage for any given performance.
As the revival continues its scheduled run, the central, open question is this: will the production find sustained moments where script, score and star combine to lift Kinky Boots beyond being a riot of feathers and into a consistently compelling piece of musical theatre with matt cardle anchored in the role?
