Dirty Dancing on stage is an adaptation of the famous Dirty Dancing film. Any fans of the film will definitely enjoy this stage version, although some aspects might be questionable. Here’s my Dirty Dancing On Stage Theatre Review.
Overview of Dirty Dancing On Stage
Dirty Dancing on stage follows the same story as the famous film that stars Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. My Dirty Dancing On Stage: Theatre Review won’t give you any spoilers if you’ve already seen the film!
The story follows Baby, on holiday with her family at a holiday camp. Here, she meets Johnny. Johnny works at the holiday camp teaching dance. Baby is instantly attracted to him, but Johnny doesn’t feel the same at first. However, when Johnny’s dance partner, Penny, accidentally gets pregnant, Baby ends up helping them. She learns to dance with Johnny, to fill in for Penny. And as they dance together, Johnny and Baby start to fall in love.
Check out dates for the Dirty Dancing On Stage UK tour here.
What I liked about Dirty Dancing On Stage
I love the Dirty Dancing film, especially the story and the music. So I really enjoyed seeing these aspects live on stage. I did have some issues with the music (more about that later!), but in general the songs that I love from the film were done well on stage. And the dancing on stage was great as well. While the dances may not be the most complex, they were still well-performed and very enjoyable to watch. And the love story between Baby and Johnny is just lovely.
What I wasn’t so sure about
This is the second time I’ve seen Dirty Dancing on stage, and both times I haven’t actually been that impressed. I love the film, and it’s one of my favourite films. But I just feel like the stage production could be better.
My biggest issue is that they miss out the lovely song ‘She’s Like The Wind’ in the stage version. They start to play some of the intro, but then don’t actually do the song. It’s such a shame to miss that song. A lot of the other songs are played, but they’re often played either as a recording or by a small band in the corner of the stage. I feel like the wonderful music could be embedded into the stage show more. This production is definitely ‘the story on stage’. It’s not really a musical – it’s a stage story that has some music. But if the music was embedded more, like in a proper musical – I think that would make the whole show so much more magical.
The acting of Johnny has missed the mark for me in both productions I’ve seen. In the film Patrick Swayze is cool but also has a softer side. Both actors playing Johnny on stage haven’t quite portrayed this softer side. They’ve both come across as a bit cold, and too cool and unemotional. I couldn’t see why Baby falls in love with the stage version of Johnny. But in the film, I can 100% see why Baby falls for him.
The stage show felt slightly rushed as well, especially in the first half. It felt like they were rushing to get through the plot. But in the second half of the show, they added quite a lot of scenes that weren’t in the film – but I felt these added scenes didn’t really add much to the plot. I’d have preferred them to spend a bit more time doing the main scenes, and focussing less on the additional scenes.
Would I recommend Dirty Dancing On Stage
My Dirty Dancing On Stage: Theatre Review is fairly mixed, so I don’t know if I 100% recommend this show. If you love the film and the music, then I think it’s worth going to see the show on stage. It’s still an enjoyable evening out. But I just think it could be done so much better. It has the potential to be a real ‘wow’ production. And this current version doesn’t quite work for me.