Hey Sweeties,
On Monday Dirty Dancing had it’s opening night at the Wycombe Swan*, retelling the classic love story of Baby and Johnny on stage. I am a huge fan of the film and its soundtrack, so I arrived with reasonably high expectations and hoped that this adaptation wouldn’t steer away too far (if at all) from the original story. “I carried a watermelon?!” anybody?
Once the curtains opened, a small technical issue about 10-15 minutes into the performance occurred which resulted in the curtain coming down temporarily while the stage crew fixed the issue, but the show got back up and running quickly with no further hitches.
I won’t recount the story of Dirty Dancing because you either already know it well or you will be so intrigued after this review you’ll want to go and watch it for yourself. In brief however, it’s a love story set during the summer of 1967 between Frances “Baby” Houseman (played by Kira Malou) and Johnny Castle (played by Michael O’Reilly who definitely had a touch of the Swayze about him).
While the performance overall was fantastic, full blooded and passionate, the dancing was outstanding; the long pins of Simone Covele (who plays Penny Johnson) particularly of note. I haven’t seen much live dancing in my lifetime, and I’m only a recent Strictly fan, so for me Dirty Dancing really was all about the dancing which I found thrilling.
If you love the film like I do, you definitely will not be disappointed, I certainly left the theatre feeling uplifted. It’s always a challenge to adapt stories from the screen to the stage and vice versa, particularly for stories so well-known like Dirty Dancing, so it’s always vital to view with an open mind and be considerate of the performance space. The Wycombe Swan isn’t a big theatre, but the cast did well working within the space it allowed and the set cleverly revolved around Kellerman’s, the staff quarters and Johnny’s room.
There were a few slightly dare I say clumsy scene changes, and I wasn’t a fan of the cast’s microphones being taped down their backs. You could tell this didn’t really work and for me it was a little distracting at times.
I am not usually quite so distracted by good-looking male actors but Michael O’Reilly (Johnny) is certainly eye candy and several times throughout the show a few of us in the audience were like, “phwoar!”. FYI, put your interval ice cream down for two minutes while the first scene of Johnny and Baby during the second act plays out… all I’m saying is blink and you’ll miss it so put the ice cream or your drink down for a moment and pay attention.
Despite Michael’s phwoarsomeness, I did feel there was a slight lack in chemistry between him and Kira, but Baby as a character is petite and naïve against the height, build and sexiness of say a character like Penny.
What I really love about modern theatre is the new ways technology is enabling new artistic direction. I really enjoyed the clever use of video screens and projection that enabled key scenes with Baby and Johnny such as the log dancing and the lifts in the lake, to be included.
Overall, I quite literally had the time of my life watching Dirty Dancing at the Wycombe Swan and I would watch the play again in a heartbeat!
Until next time x
*I was kindly offered tickets in exchange for a review by the Wycombe Swan. All opinions are honest and my own.
