Dirty Dancing, the 1987 coming-of-age film has found
a new rhythm in a spin-off musical which came to Glasgow this month- accompanied
by the infectious beat of the summer of 1963 and Johnny and Baby’s classic love
story. From the opening lines “that was the summer we went to Kellerman’s”, the
audience were hooked.
The hit stage show follows 17-year-old Frances
‘Baby’ Houseman who wishes to save the world, one starving Southeast Asian
country at a time. While at a summer camp with her family, she falls for Johnny
Castle, the resort’s resident dancer. When Baby decides to help out one of
Johnny’s friends, she is forced to hide the budding romance from her father and
the resort owner.
The story also contains elements of class struggle
and preconceived gender notions, as well as subtle nods to the generational
divide and civil rights movement still to come. As Baby reveals in her opening
monologue, the story occurs “before President Kennedy was shot, before the
Beatles came, when I couldn’t wait to join the Peace Corps and I thought I’d
never meet a guy as great as my dad.”
Roseanna Frascona is wonderful as Baby- not only
because she displays an uncanny resemblance to Jennifer Grey- but because she
achieves the right balance of innocence and stubbornness. Dirty Dancing made
Patrick Swayze a star and his charisma is difficult to translate to the stage.
However, Gareth Bailey brings a sensitivity to the role of Johnny Castle that
the audience instantly falls for.
Fans of the film will be pleased that the stage
version sticks relatively close to the original plot with the addition of a few
added scenes to move the plot along. The water scene where the couple practice
that famous lift, for instance, is done in an exaggerated fake way. Baby and
Johnny stand behind a projected image of a lake but this works surprisingly
well and injects a bit of humour into the production.
Where this version of Dirty Dancing truly excels is
in presenting the exquisite dancing which compliments the sing along hits that
this musical is full of, including ‘Hungry Eyes’, ‘She’s Like the Wind’ and ‘Do
You Love Me.’ Johnny’s dance partner, Penny (Claire Rogers) makes the intricate
choreography look effortless.
It is a feel-good ride from beginning to end, with
the audience joining in and even shouting out lines sometimes. In the lead up
to the unforgettable finale, Bailey runs through the stalls, much to the
audience’s delight, to deliver his immortal line to his would-be father in law,
“Nobody puts Baby in the corner.” This proves that the story of Dirty Dancing
possibly works better on stage in front of a live audience.
It is unsurprising that the musical has been seen by
more than six million people since opening in London in 2006. From the opening
beats of ‘Be My Baby’ to the much anticipated finale with ‘(I’ve Had) The Time
of My Life’- Dirty Dancing has the audience captivated.
