When DIRTY DANCING made it back to the New Theatre in Cardiff this week, we knew no one was gonna put this show in the corner. It is right out there, loud and proud and playing to sold out houses at every performance.
We went along to the Wednesday matinee to see what all the madness was about, although to be fair, this is my fourth Dirty Dancing outing so I had a pretty good idea what was coming.
First of all, let’s start with the South Wales audience – predominantly women, all of them excited, and boy were they ready to party.
The Dirty Dancing experience begins long before everyone takes their seats. The audience arrived far earlier than I’ve seen for any other production, and for the many we spoke to as they made their way into the theatre, they’d been talking about nothing else for much of the morning.
Just in case you don’t know, the show is based on the 1987 film with Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze. It’s very much a coming-of-age story. Young Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman (KIRA MALOU) has a bit of an awakening after falling for dance instructor Johnny Castle (MICHAEL O’REILLY) while on holiday at Kellermans resort with her sister and well to do parents.
Kellerman’s is a bit like an American version of Butlins holiday camp without the cockles and bingo, but the addition of some very beautiful and attentive staff and dancers.
You have to transport your mind back to 1963 when the story takes place. Times were very different, attitudes we’re certainly not PC, in fact the PC hadn’t really been invented.
Although the film is famous for one of the best soundtracks you’ll find anywhere, it isn’t really a traditional musical. A lot of the cast don’t sing, and the music is used to carry the story along. Think of the show as more of a dancesical than musical if you like. Having said that, there are a couple of numbers which we were all waiting for, and the routines which made this story such a hit for the last 36 years.
Everyone in the theatre was itching for Hungry Eyes and of course I’ve Had the Time of my Life, and when the band played the first beat of each number, we were all there focused on every step of each perfectly executed routine.
From the moment the show begins we are given a masterclass in how a dance based show should be. The routines, choreographed by AUSTIN WILKS are absolutely stunning, with things happening to the longest legs you’ll see on a stage that really don’t seem physically possible. They are sensual, sexy and at times downright passionate (or raunchy as some of the audience called them).
They are also really funny too, in particular the early moments when Johnny is trying to teach Baby to dance. We also get the much-loved lifts in the water routine, which they did manage to recreate with some clever lighting, sound and a bit of imagination from us in the audience.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show where the audience have gotten so excited about a specific step or move, or even a spoken line when it’s delivered by the cast. The ‘nobody puts baby in the corner‘ moment received as huge a cheer and round of applause as one of the masterfully choreographed dance numbers.
To be honest, there isn’t anything we can write about this absolute phenomenal production which you either don’t know or haven’t heard before. We reckon what the Cardiff audience had to say pretty much sums up what is so great about Dirty Dancing on stage.
Don’t get me wrong, we love the movie as much as the entire planet, but for us, live is where it works best. Where we all feel a part of the production and drawn into every moment by a cast of performers and musicians, who clearly love this show as much as we do.
The set by designer ANDREA COMOTTI opens out into one big holiday park setting, with a sunset lake in the background. What happens around that is relatively straight-forward but incredibly effective. Table and chairs, beds, bandstands and stages, seamlessly move in and across the stage to keep the action flowing.
The stage however, is the playground for the dancers and one very accomplished band under supervising Musical Director RICHARD JOHN. The way the music is placed into the story isn’t clunky at all, which it can be with some productions. We either get the live sound of the band, or pre-recorded tracks coming out of the good old fashioned record players used by the dancers.
If it’s the music you love Dirty Dancing for, you won’t be disappointed, every one of the classic songs on the soundtrack is there.
CAST RECORDING
We loved the cross generational cast in this show, with everyone playing an important part to the story.
The Dirty Dancing cast is…..
- Michael O’Reilly – Jonny
- Kira Malou – Baby
- Georgia Aspinall – Penny Johnson
- Jack Loy – Dr Jake Houseman
- Taryn Sudding – Majorie Houseman
- Daisy Steere – Lisa Houseman
- Danny Colligan – Billy Kostecki
- Colin Charles – Tito Suarez
- Christian James – Neil Kellerman
- Mark McKerracher – Max Kellerman
- Lydia Sterling – Elizabeth
The show also includes…….
Mark Faith, Lowri Hamilton, Tyler Lotzof, Jody Zimmerman, Eva Phillips, Callum Fitzgerald, Michael Nelson, Joel Benjamin, Aaron J Smith, Akeem Ellis-Hyman, Thomas Inge, Jenna Warne, Taylor Bridges, Daisy West, and Ayden Morgan.
The choreography is seamless and the show is timeless. Dirty Dancing has been around for nigh on 40 years and if todays packed auditorium is anything to go by, we’ll be writing reviews on this show in another 40 years from now.
Like the joy we all felt when Johnny and Baby gave us a perfect ‘final lift’ – you know the one, we really did have the most perfect afternoon at the theatre. It’s one I would happily recommend you get along an enjoy, but here’s the problem. At the time of writing this review, every performance is showing SOLD OUT, so unless you have your tickets already, or you manage to get one of the very few returns, if there are any, you’ll have to wait till next time I’m afraid.
To find out more about the cast and the show itself, take a look at our original feature HERE.
DIRTY DANCING – THE CLASSIC STORY ON STAGE is at the New Theatre in Cardiff through to Saturday 1st July. Performances are at 7:30pm each evening, except Friday when it’s on stage at 8:30pm. There’s a 2:30pm matinee on Saturday with a 5pm show on Friday. There’s a whole range of tickets prices but as they are showing as sold out, I don’t really want to tease you any further. To check the situation on the website, go HERE.
