Kinky Boots
- tabithacatlin
- 3 days ago
- 9 min read
London Coliseum - Interview with Ru Fisher
One of the most heartwarming and fun shows is back on the West End, and with some incredible performers. 'Kinky Boots' is the show! Written by Harvey Fierstein with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, this show uplifts the audience with its power and message about the importance of acceptance. This is playing at the London Coliseum until July 11th this year, starring Johannes Radebe and Matt Cardle. The whole cast makes this show the beauty that it is, and brings tears and smiles to everyone's face. It's hard not to feel taken away by this show. Click here to read my review.
Cast is what this post is all about! We're celebrating the incredible cast of 'Angels' in this show; they are the vibrance and soul of the show. There's such a range of Lola's Angels, and with it many different personalities. 'Kinky Boots' shines a light and celebrates the drag community. Giving each ensemble member their own individuality and room to put their own personal touch on their character made them less of a unit and more of a team with different elements. The show is about having space to express yourself in a way that makes you feel confident, and in our society, there is always a need for more space to be self-expressive and celebrated.
We were lucky enough to have a chat with one of the most incredible cast members. Ru Fisher, who has caught my eye in a range of shows with her impeccable dance technique and stage presence. It was an honour to be able to learn more about 'Kinky Boots' through her experience. Being able to hear more about what goes into the creation of each of Lola's Angels is incredibly heart-warming and makes you appreciate the show more!
Let's get into what we talked about:
Q: Tell Us About The Show?
A: Kinky Boots is set in a family-run shoe factory in Northampton, and it is Nikolai Foster's (artistic director) original production from the Curve. We have changed the time it is set to. It's originally set in the 2000s, and this production is set in the mid 90s. The idea was to have a bit more of an 80s influence visually. But also in terms of the time frame in society and the drag era. It starts with the legacy of the shoe factory. The son, Charlie Price, has been raised to believe he will take over the factory one day, and he is reluctant to do so. Fast forward, in about 7 minutes, he's a grown-up man.
I think one of the most special parts of this production is 'The Angels' characters and the drag representations. I think the original production of the Kinky Boots ensemble is beautiful, but very Greek Chorus.
As the show goes on, Charlie finds that his family's factory is in trouble. He then witnesses a fight outside a club in London, which he presumes to be a woman, who is being attacked by a couple of guys, and then turns out to be Lola, a fabulous drag supernova. They meet, and Lola shares that the heels that Lola and her Angels are trying to perform in are not up to scratch. This is what sparks Charlie and Lola's journey. Charlie realises that this is a niche market which could save his family's factory and restore the dignity, because it seems to have fallen into disarray. Then, friction grows among the factory workers. When the Angels arrive and try to get the two worlds to coincide peacefully, it becomes a journey of ups and downs. In the end, they work together to create the Kinky Boots. They then take them to the Milan fashion show, and this part of the show is fabulous! The audience leaves with a big old smile.
I really love the way that Niklai uses the young Charlie and young Lola in our production and creates these really poignant moments. It's the main theme of the show, this journey of exploring and comparing the relationship of the two main characters with their fathers. Lola, being a drag queen, shows the themes of sexuality, gender expression, and drag. These elements display the message of how important it is to accept someone for who they are. The story of the show, what it represents, is so important in today's society, and this makes it a very powerful show. It was relevant back when it was originally produced, but I think we can all agree that now it's more important than ever to have a story of acceptance, celebrating each other and raising each other in the West End. Of course, on the biggest stage in the West End, which is crazy! It's important to have a story like Kinky Boots available for the masses in the time that we're currently living in.
Q: What's your role in the show, and how have you put your own personal stamp on it?
A: So, I play one of the Angels, and there are now 10 of us. My Angel's name, that I created, is 'Rue The Dai', as in deity, because you will rue the day you crossed me. That's my slogan. I wanted to incorporate my own name into my drag name, because I love it when drag artists do that! I'm also sharing the same name as RuPaul, the MOTHER of drag! Then, Jonathan Dryden Taylor, who plays one of the Angels and Mr Price. Nana, drag queen, gave me the idea to spell it 'Dai' instead of 'day' it would be like daity, a celestial being, and that is very much how I would identify it.
I've added my own personal stamp with my love of makeup. As a trans and non-binary person, makeup is something that I have used for many years as a form of my own self-expression, but also to exist in society. It kind of feels like, especially these days, a sort of armour. I think that's exactly what we spoke about at the very beginning of the Kinky Boots process, back in December 2024, the original UK tour. We spoke about that being the case with Lola and all the Angels, it's each character's own drag and their way to express themselves, how they dress, the wigs and makeup. I think it's a suit of armour in the musical, and it keeps the Angels safe from all these situations that they encounter within the factory and the world outside the club. The club is their safe haven. It's where they can go to be whoever, whatever they want to be. They can leave all expectations at the door, literally!
I have really enjoyed experimenting with makeup. Our wigs, hair and make-up team that work on the show, and our costumes team are so phenomenal at transforming us into these ferocious drag artists. So I've loved experimenting with what Ru the Dai looks like and what colours she wears. And is she a skinny brow queen? She mostly is. As I said, we're in the 90s! I like my drag to be big for the theatre, especially at the Coliseum, where there is such a big audience. The designers have been amazing at creating each of our queens based on our own individual style, and not trying to dress anyone in anything that they wouldn't necessarily reach for. A very collaborative process
Some of the writing of the show is rather dated because of when it was written; some of the reviews have picked up on that. Our production is trying to show a mirror to the audience. It's a way of showing that this is what it's like for those of us in the community. When people don't use the right language or don't try. I'm very proud to be the trans angel, and everything I wear, like I'm in a tutu for 'The Land of Lola'. It's like the black swan, but in red. All my looks are quite feminine and girly, and some of the other Angels who are 6-foot-tall, and go to the gym all the time, and have size 13 feet, are dressed in a way that they feel confident, powerful and sexy. I love every part of our production, because each Angel is completely individual in their own personality and style.
Q: Out of all of the makeup that you use for 'Kinky Boots', what is your favourite makeup item?
A: We were in Germany for most of the European tour, and there's a German version of Boots. They were selling these amazing little pots of gel-like flakes. It's like a pot of glitter gel where I'll put it on my cut creases and on my cheeks, the bridge of my nose and my eyebrows. It must have been like three euros or something. The equivalent of that in something Sephora would be crazy expensive! The way that they just completely elevate a look is incredible. I'm a bit of a magpie in that respect.
Q: What is your favourite shoe in the show and why?
A: I do love my own kinky boots. They are tartan, and I wear Tartan quite often in the show. But my favourite shoes in the show are Mother Johannes's, Kinky Boots. There are a crazy number, like 35,000 Swarovski stones, stuck on these thigh-high boots. It's ridiculous. Seeing them from the auditorium must be incredible, but seeing them up close under those lights. It's ridiculous!
Q: What is your favourite number in the show?
A: Hands down, it's 'Land of Lola'. When we enter that number, there is such a wave. Up until that point in the show, it's working-class Northampton or the back streets of London, we haven't seen the glitz and the glamour that everybody knows is coming. So the audience is just waiting for that 1st glimpse of red and for the glamour that is coming. It's the juxtaposition of those 2 worlds that I think makes the show really clever. It was a film before, but I think that it was so poignant, just the juxtaposition between the factory workers and their working-class world. Then the colours that are introduced when the Angels come in, and all the rhinestones and the feathers. Tom Rogers and Robert Jones have done so beautifully.
In 'Land of Lola', you can literally hear the audience losing their minds once they spot Lola for the 1st time. It's honestly like Wembley Stadium every night. It's the biggest version of the show that we've had so far because the stage is enormous. It just feels very defiant. Leah Hill is a phenomenal choreographer; she is very keen on making sure that it doesn't become too performative. She wants it to be a protest every time that we're on that stage. There has to be real grit. We literally start the number, once Johannes begins the song, after the intro, by slamming our fists or hands, on these desks or whatever it is in the factory that we're leaning against. She always reminds us to maintain that. Yes, even in that number, where we're in our own world, in the Angel Club. performing as part of a show within a show. But it's still the mid-90s in a drag club in London. It's a protest every single time.
I live for that part of it. I belong where I am in the show, and on the Coliseum stage, and with the cast of Kinky Boots. But for me, as a trans performer, possibly one of the 1st trans women to be on stage, transcends to people to be on stage in an ensemble role in the West End. Every day for me, stepping out on that stage is a protest as well. I do find that the industry has come a long way and really is moving. It is showing the world as it is, which includes everyone. People from every walk of life, all colours of the rainbow. I'm very proud to be on that stage every night, and in that role, and amongst the cast of phenomenal talents and incredible human beings. We really are a family.
Land of Lola is amazing. Courtney Bowman, Billy Roberts and multiple members of the ensemble come and watch Land of Lola every night without fail. That moment, I think, is what everyone who knows the show is waiting for. Not once have I sat in that wing ready to go on without the feeling of excitement, and that is so amazing. That never gets old, you know?
Q: Describe the show in one sentence:
A: Kinky Boots is a beautifully poignant show about self-expression, challenging problematic stereotypes of gender norms and the power of acceptance against divided communities.
After having this conversation with Ru Fisher I feel even more in love with the show and the power it holds. This is a piece of theatre that you shouldn't miss for so many reasons and I hope if you were on the fence, you are now itching to see the show! Get your glitter on and best outfit, it's time to watch Kinky Boots! It's utterly fantastic.
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