Award-winning musical Kinky Boots arrived at Sunderland in December in all its bedazzled glory, bringing a joyful and touching story full of humour and a lot of sole.
With a toe-tapping score written by 80s icon Cyndi Lauper, the musical - based on a 2005 movie of the same name - tells the true story of a shoemaker's son who teams up with a drag queen to save his father's business by marketing to an "underserved niche market."
That is 'Kinky Boots' - heeled boots designed especially for drag queens, including Lola and her troupe of Angels, who arrive at the factory and challenge, learn and ultimately journey together with the workers there.
It is a show about celebrating people for being who they are and accepting people, flaws and all. But it is also a story about two men's struggles living up to their father's expectations.
Charlie (Dan Partridge) inherits his dad's shoe business, Price and Sons, while Simon (Tosh Wanogho-Maud) performs as Lola, a drag queen whose father was a professional boxer.
Lola's powerhouse vocals brought the house down from as soon as she took to the stage - beating up homophobes with a heel before belting out impressive riffs in the introductory 'Land of Lola'.
The dynamic between Lola and Charlie is played brilliantly by Wanhogo-Maud and Partridge, who effortlessly weave between comedic and heartrending story beats. This is especially seen in the touching moment between the pair towards the end of act one, realising they are more similar than they first believed, both singing in unison "I'm not my father's son / I'm not the image of what he dreamed of."
What follows is a second act that leads towards a joyous all-dancing finale.
How it gets there is perhaps the only issue I had with the show.
Some of the conflict between characters feels more forced than others. And while Don (Billy Roberts) was always going to clash with Lola, for reasons you should see the show to appreciate, there was perhaps less in the book that suggested a blow-up between Charlie and Lola was on the horizon.
Coupled with a rather crowbarred love triangle between Charlie, his fiancée Nicola (Joanna O'Hare) and factory worker Lauren (Courtney Bowman) led to the actual detination of the story - a fashion show in Milan - feel tertiary to other plot points given momentum.
But, that is a story issue, and for what it is worth, very minor in the grand scheme of things.
And by the time the entire company is in front of your eyes, all decked out in thigh-high dazzling red boots and dancing like their very lives depended on it, it won't matter at all.
Joy will take over your being, feet will tap and, without even realising it, a smile will paint your face.
And that is what the show is about. Having fun, loving yourself, accepting others and understanding the hardships they have faced.
"Feed your fire, to take you higher / We'll light you up like a live wire / Celebrate you, to elevate you, / When you struggle to step, we'll take a helping hand."
Kinky Boots is at the Sunderland Empire until December 6, with tickets starting at £15.
Tickets can be bought from: https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/kinky-boots/sunderland-empire/.
