Kinky Boots, Adelphi Theatre ****

If last year was a bad year for the musical, this year is turning out to be a truly great one with a second superb musical that looks almost certain to have a decent run in the West End. The plot is predictable enough and it has the brash Broadway look with a set from David Rockwell that feels typical of a Broadway show. I was wanting to hate this show, feeling that it was another money making machine from America and in a way it is but it is also far more than that. It addresses sexuality in a way that isn't intimidating and provides one of the most pleasant, enjoyable and feel-good evenings around. The anti-phone message is unique and hilarious and Jamie Baughn is great as the person who delivers that message in his role as Don who is great as the bigot who surprises everyone. An ensemble cast are wonderfully slick for this early in previews. There will be some discussion over X Factor contestant Marcus Collins who has an ensemble role here after reportedly walking out on Joseph rehearsals but he does have a solo in the second half which he excels in and is an understudy for Lola which I'm sure he will be excellent as. The comedy role is played well by Amy Lennox whilst Killian Donnelly plays the owner of the failing shoe factory well. However, it is Matt Henry's Lola that is the true marvel of the piece. He fills Cyndi Lauper's decent score with life and soul. He plays the drag queen with sass and, for me, is shoe in for the Olivier next year. It doesn't see drag queens as masking their true selves but are celebratory towards difference and the audience reacted fantastically because of that. This is one Broadway musical which will deserve it's long run.

Made in Dagenham, Adelphi Theatre ***

The company of Made in Dagenham

The issue of equal pay has always been a big and controversial issue. The feminist uprising has been 'rising' now for over a hundred years and we still have not achieved total equality. Neither of these issues will be progressed by Made in Dagenham. Unlike Henry IV at the Donmar, the women in this are either old or the idealized woman. There are no women from the real world in this. This is because that was never  really the point. This musical, whilst I had great fun whilst there, assumes that it's audience does not want to be challenged and just spoon feeds them the 60s charm and delightful music the musical thinks the audience wants. However, down the road at the Garrick, the husband of Isla Blair (Connie) is playing the part of the interlocutor in a musical that seriously challenges it's audience and is just as successful. On the other hand, as a night out, it is an absolute blast. Wit from Richard Bean's book, delicious melodies from David Arnold and fantastic direction from the Almeida's artistic director Rupert Goold. Apart from American Psycho, none of the three have done musicals and have produced a musical sounding and looking like it has been made by true professionals. What is truly astonishing is the set from Bunny Christie that looks like an air-fix model kit and her costume designs really help capture that image of the 1960s. Acting- wise, Arteton does a commendable but hardly memorable job as Rita O'Grady however it is a disappointment compared to her Duchess in the debut of the Wannamaker Playhouse. Furst is the true star of the show, probably best known as the wizard in that Dick and Dom show based in the middle ages, giving a hilarious stereotyped american. Hadfield is great as PM Harold Wilson and the ensemble are impressive too. Whilst I was at first sniffy with this show's message, it's effect on me was equivalent to some of the best musicals I've seen.