I’ve done over 360 performances so far and I’ve not tired of it,” says Paula Lane, who can’t quite believe she has been touring with Kinky Boots for over a year.

The Tony and Olivier award-winning show, heading to Bradford for a fortnight, is her first big musical.

Based loosely on the story of a real shoe factory that changed its fortunes, Kinky Boots is a feelgood, occasionally touching, show that carries a timely message of acceptance.

Taking audiences from a gentlemen’s shoe manufacturers in the East Midlands to the catwalks of Milan, it’s a “dazzling, sassy and uplifting” musical about friendship and how you can help to change the world when you change your mind.

“It’s very relevant today,” says Paula, from Hebden Bridge. “There is more acceptance and tolerance now, even since I was younger, but we still have a long way to go.”

The story started life in BBC documentary series Trouble at the Top and was made into 2005 film Kinky Boots. It’s the story of Charlie Price, who is expected to take on the family shoe business but struggles to live up to his father’s expectations. It’s not looking good for the troubled firm - until the arrival of Lola, a glamorous cross-dressing performer who needs some sturdy stilettos. Soon the ailing factory discovers a niche; fabulous footwear for men who like to dress up.

Lola and Charlie strike up an unlikely friendship and realise they have something in common. “The song Not My Father’s Son, which they sing together, is a big moment,” says Paula. “It’s a beautiful song that resonates with audiences.”

The songs are by Cyndi Lauper, who won a Tony award for the score. “Every song has Cyndi’s magic touch,” smiles Paula. “There’s a bit of everything - pop, ballads, rock. I’m really lucky, I have a big meaty number.”

Paula plays factory worker Lauren, who has a crush on Charlie. “She’s unsure of Lola at first, she’s never been in that kind of arena before,” says Paula. “There is some prejudice among the workers. Lola and Charlie take each other by surprise, and a lovely friendship develops.”

The show has an army of devoted fans. “They follow us around the country, some of them dress up which is just fabulous,” says Paula. “Then you get people coming along who don’t know what to expect, and by the end of the show they’re on their feet. It takes audiences on a journey.”

Paula and the cast visited Northampton shoe business Ticker’s to find out about life on the factory floor. “It’s where the film was made, it was great to go there and meet the real ‘Charlie Price’,” she says.

On TV, Paula has appeared in Heartbeat (her first job after drama school), Doctors and The Royal, and the film War Wounds with Stephen Mangan. But it’s as feisty Kylie Platt in Coronation Street that she’s best known. After a series of explosive storylines, not least killing her villainous ex then helping to bury his body underneath Gail’s extension, Kylie was last seen dying from stab wounds on the cobbles in husband David’s arms, in July 2016. Three years on, she still haunts the Street; the fall-out from Kylie’s death is felt in a current storyline involving her son Max’s behavioural problems.

“Barely an episode goes by where Kylie isn’t mentioned. It’s over three years since I left - time they let go!” laughs Paula.

She left Corrie to have her second baby, and has “gently shed the skin of Kylie”. Her children, Arthur, four, and Penny, three, have been backstage at theatres “to see where Mummy works”.

“It’s important that they see me in that environment so they can picture where I am when I’m away,” she says. “They’re getting it now.”

She’s looking forward to Bradford: “Northern audiences really get this show. And I’m a Yorkshire girl, so it’ll feel like home.”

l Kinky Boots is at the Alhambra from October 15-26. Call (01274) 432000.