There’s no business like shoe business!

Ahead of their regional premiere of the musical 'Kinky Boots' at the Wyllyotts Theatre in Potters Bar next month, Green Room Productions welcomed the actual ‘Mr Kinky Boots' - former factory owner Steve Pateman - to their rehearsals.

With music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, Kinky Boots tells the story of Charlie Price, who inherits his father’s ailing shoe factory and turns the factory around, making fabulous stiletto boots for men.

Donning thigh-length shiny red boots, Steve came to meet the cast of Green Room’s production and tell them the true story behind Kinky Boots, a tale that featured in the hugely successful BBC Two documentary Trouble At The Top, and inspired the award-winning movie and multi award-winning stage musical.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Green Room's Kinky Boots cast members with former factory owner Steve Pateman, on whom the story is based.Green Room's Kinky Boots cast members with former factory owner Steve Pateman, on whom the story is based. (Image: Stephen Fothergill)

Steve, on whom the story is based, chatted about how the factory was saved by switching to supplying this niche market in footwear.

He started in the family shoe business, W J Brookes, straight from school where he learnt the trade from his father, eventually taking over the running of the factory when his father retired.

When a downturn in the shoe industry led Steve to look to new ideas he stumbled into the market of making outrageous boots for the cross-dressing and transgender community.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Former factory owner Steve Pateman, on whom the Kinky Boots story is based, at Green Room rehearsals.Former factory owner Steve Pateman, on whom the Kinky Boots story is based, at Green Room rehearsals. (Image: Stephen Fothergill)

A series of events then led him into a world of new experiences, people and celebrity, as well as becoming a television star of the BBC Two programme Trouble at the Top, leading to the film and subsequent stage musical.

Ruaridh MacPhee plays Charlie Price, aka Steve Pateman, in Green Room’s show, which opens on May 2. 

Ruaridh said: "It was great to hear Steve’s story of how he entered a world he didn’t know existed.

"Learning to walk in six-inch stiletto heels and shaving his legs are just two of the things Steve had to do to help save his business.

"And learning to walk in six inch heels is something I and most of the male cast are having to learn now. Of course, most of the women are one step ahead of us!”

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Musical Kinky Boots can be seen at the Wyllyotts Theatre in Potters Bar.Musical Kinky Boots can be seen at the Wyllyotts Theatre in Potters Bar. (Image: Supplied by Green Room)

Chris Lucas, last seen as Joseph in Green Room’s 2022 production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, plays Lola, the flamboyant entertainer who meets Charlie Price and helps him reinvent the business.

Chris said: “Charlie and Lola are an unlikely pair, from wildly different backgrounds but, in ultimately embracing their differences find they have more in common than they ever thought possible.

"The key message of this story is not only the importance of accepting yourself but also accepting others for who they are.”

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Green Room rehearsing for the forthcoming production of Kinky Boots in Potters Bar.Green Room rehearsing for the forthcoming production of Kinky Boots in Potters Bar. (Image: Stephen Fothergill)

Welwyn Hatfield Times: The Green Room cast of Kinky Boots rehearsing.The Green Room cast of Kinky Boots rehearsing. (Image: Stephen Fothergill)

With themes of acceptance and raising one another up, Kinky Boots is a show well needed in the current age.

Alastair Woodgate, Green Room Chair, said: “Kinky Boots is an amazing show which not only entertains but conveys an uplifting message to never let anyone stop you from being you."

And, if you’d like to meet Steve Pateman, the real 'Boss in Boots', he will be at Green Room's performances on Tuesday, May 2 and Wednesday, May 3.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: The Green Room cast of Kinky Boots rehearsing.The Green Room cast of Kinky Boots rehearsing. (Image: Stephen Fothergill)

Welwyn Hatfield Times: The Green Room cast of Kinky Boots rehearsing.The Green Room cast of Kinky Boots rehearsing. (Image: Steve Fothergill)

So put your best foot forward and strut along to the Wyllyotts Theatre! The show runs until Saturday, May 6, with a matinee that day, after the Coronation.

But don’t leave it too long to book – some of the performances are nearly sold out.

Tickets for Kinky Boots at the Wyllyotts Theatre, Potters Bar, can be booked by visiting www.wyllyottstheatre.co.uk or by calling the theatre box office on 01707 645005.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Kinky Boots can be seen at the Wyllyotts Theatre in Potters Bar.Kinky Boots can be seen at the Wyllyotts Theatre in Potters Bar. (Image: Green Room)

                                                                                                                                

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