A DAZZLING sassy global phenomenon strides into Southampton next week .

With songs by Grammy and Tony winning pop icon Cyndi Lauper, worldwide smash Kinky Boots will celebrate the voyage from Brit grit to high-heeled hit at the Mayflower Theatre from Tuesday September 3- Saturday September 14.

Winner of every major Best Musical award, including the 2016 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, the show is loosely inspired by the true story of an old family firm of Northampton shoe manufacturers that was about to go under only to discover a new niche in the market - ladies’ footwear worn by men who like to dress up.

Inspiring the charming independent British movie of the same name starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as Lola, a fictional cross-dressing diva demanding sturdy stilettos, the story opened on the stage in Chicago in 2012, before moving to Broadway the following year, and on to the West End in 2015.

Adapted for the stage with music and lyrics by the Girl’s Just Want to have fun 80’s icon Lauper, Kinky Boots the Musical proudly adds a string of catchy numbers to the unlikely friendship between Lola and straight-laced factory owner Charlie including wig-out, dance anthems and heart-stopping ballads such as The Most Beautiful Thing in The World, The Sex Is in the Heel and Not My Father’s Son.

Writing for the theatre for the first time, Lauper said: “It’s a story about a really great friendship and two very, very opposite people and there’s a great redemption in the end. I’m a sucker for redemption.”

West End star Kayi Ushe will be putting on the boots to play Lola. He will be joined by Paula Lane as Lauren, best known for her role as Kylie Platt in Coronation Street, and Joel Harper-Jackson, who recently starred in the The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time UK tour, will be playing Charlie Price.

This joyous musical celebration is about the friendships we discover, and the belief that you can change the world when you change your mind. Kinky Boots takes you from a gentlemen’s shoe factory in Northampton to the glamorous catwalks of Milan. Charlie Price is struggling to live up to his father’s expectations and continue the family business of Price & Son. With the factory’s future hanging in the balance, help arrives in the unlikely but spectacular form of Lola, a fabulous performer in need of some sturdy new stilettos.Tel: 02380 711811/ W: mayflower.org.uk.