In 1993, Sam Mendes directed a new production of the show for the Donmar Warehouse in London's West End. It starred Jane Horrocks as Sally, Adam Godley as Cliff, Alan Cumming as the Emcee and Sara Kestelman as Frau Schneider. Cumming received an Olivier Award nomination for his performance and Kestelman won the Olivier for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical. Mendes' conception was a very different show from either the original production or the rather conventional first revival. The most significant change was the character of the Emcee. The role, as played by Joel Grey, in both prior incarnations, was an asexual, malevolent character in a tuxedo with rouged cheeks. Alan Cumming's portrayal was highly sexualized, wearing suspenders (i.e. braces) around his crotch and red paint on his nipples.[4] The cabaret number "Two Ladies" was staged with the Emcee, a cabaret girl, and a cabaret boy in drag and included a shadow play simulating various sexual positions.[5] The score was entirely re-orchestrated, utilizing synthesizer effects and expanding the stage band, with all the instruments now being played by the cabaret girls and boys. The brutally satiric "Sitting Pretty", with its mocking references to deprivation, despair and hunger, was eliminated entirely, as it had been in the film version, and replaced with "Money". "I Don't Care Much", which was cut from the original production, was reinstated, and "Mein Herr" and "Maybe This Time", from the film adaptation, were added to the score.[5] Staging details differed as well; instead of "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" being performed by a male choir, the Emcee plays a recording of a boy soprano singing it. Most dramatic of all was in the final scene in which the Emcee removes his outer clothes to reveal a striped suit of the type worn by the internees in concentration camps on which were pinned a yellow badge (identifying a Jewish prisoner) and a pink triangle (denoting a homosexual prisoner). Other changes included added references to Cliff's bisexuality, including a brief scene where he kisses one of the Cabaret boys.

Inspired by a true story and based on the Miramax motion picture written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth, Kinky Boots, features a warm and witty book by four-time Tony® Award winner Harvey Fierstein (La Cage, Torch Song Trilogy, Hairspray, Newsies) and a richly diverse musical score from Grammy® Award-winning rock icon Cyndi Lauper, in her stunning theatrical debut. The production is directed and choreographed by Tony® Award winner Jerry Mitchell (Hairspray, La Cage, Broadway Bares).
In Kinky Boots, Charlie Price (Tony® Award nominee Stark Sands - American Idiot, Journey s End) has suddenly inherited his father s shoe factory, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. Trying to live up to his father's legacy and save his family business, Charlie finds inspiration in the form of Lola (Billy Porter Dreamgirls, Grease). A fabulous entertainer in need of some sturdy stilettos, Lola turns out to be the one person who can help Charlie become the man he's meant to be. As they work to turn the factory around, this unlikely pair finds that they have more in common than they ever dreamed possible... and discovers that when you change your mind about someone, you can change your whole world.