Miz DeShannon has the time of her life (sorry!) at the stage adaptation of this 80s classic
Oh what a night… Sorry, wrong production (although same year…) But still, what a night. Everyone who grew up in the late 80s must have had an obsession with Dirty Dancing – the love story, the songs, and especially the Swayze.
Set in the summer of 1963, the film oozes American Dream; perfect nuclear families living in the land of opportunity, mentions of Kennedy tackling poverty and civil rights head on, Jackie O the epitome of the first lady, and the music industry booming following the pioneering rock n roll of the 1950s.
The play, written by screenwriter/producer/director Eleanor Bergstein, a leading novelist on women and politics in the 1960s, is a reimagining of the Dirty Dancing with audience engagement in its sights. Aside from an incongruous campfire scene - seeming to serve only as a reminder of the civil rights issues of the time, rather than existing to add to the story - fans will be glad to know that the show hits all the same beats and iconic lines as the film, which we gladly mouthed along with.
![170725 Dirty Dancing Mains](/uploads/imager/3d02f05cfcb9a630557e0ed3e9c26675/521091/4bf94f80c0bb1073073fc89003b99061.jpg)
The question on everyone’s lips was – is the leading man going to be sufficiently Swayze? And yes, he really is. Lewis Griffiths does a fantastic performance as Johnny Castle; deep, smooth voice, smouldering looks, perfect quiff, helping him follow in difficult foot - and dance - steps.
Carlie Milner as his dance partner Penny was also a great choice, her classical ballet background shone through, meaning her leg almost disappeared behind her head in some instances. Scenes with Baby (Katie Eccles) and Neil Kellerman (Greg Fossard) were a bit too spoofy at times - we know Baby wasn’t a dancer but she never looked clumsy on screen - not helped by a fuzzy wig. We’d hoped it’d be neatened up for her development into grown-up lover and dancer, but no.
![170725 Dirty Dancing Ballroom](/uploads/imager/3d02f05cfcb9a630557e0ed3e9c26675/521089/055785a8ba7c549e0aca318b5ce715ce.jpg)
Ok, I’m being fussy: this was one of the best ‘plays with music’ (not a musical folks – this is a script with a soundtrack, very different) that I’ve seen in a while. That classification is where the show’s controversy with The Musician’s Union comes in – The MU believe that such productions should ‘keep music live’, but the majority of music in Dirty Dancing is a backing track, with a small band and a singing cast.
There was a distinct difference in hearing recorded music to having a live full band, but this is Dirty Dancing – emphasis on the dancing - and that aspect, choreographed by Gillian Bruce, was great across the genres; from smooch numbers to Eric Carmen’s Hungry Eyes and Otis Reading’s These Arms Of Mine, raunchy rock n roll to Berry Gordy Jr’s Do You Love Me? and the traumatic scene soundtracked by She’s Like The Wind.
![170725 Dirty Dancing Choreography](/uploads/imager/3d02f05cfcb9a630557e0ed3e9c26675/521090/fcab9c9366327d4038c5d78c7ee72157.jpg)
A dynamic set by Roberto Comotti perfectly recreated locations such as Kellerman’s, and Jennifer Irwin’s costumes backed up the Stepford Wives feel of a Summer Holiday against the edgier working-class staff. There were melons, there were dinner suits, there were lots of hot-pants, and some beautiful dresses akin to those I bought from my best friend when she worked in Manchester’s much-loved vintage store Rags To Bitches. Gorgeous.
So it ended. And it ended with ‘the lift’. Sadly, Culture Vulture’s Phil Kirby and I didn’t manage to recreate this ourselves as we’d arranged to on Twitter, he didn’t show up. But Griffiths and Eccles did though, in every sense of the word. Faultless.
![170725 Dirty Dancing Lift](/uploads/imager/3d02f05cfcb9a630557e0ed3e9c26675/521092/48ce986c319c3f7f4caca9f5580c9309.jpg)