DIRTY DANCING – THE CLASSIC STORY ON STAGE
DIRTY DANCING THE CLASSIC STORY ON STAGE, Sydney Lyric, The Star; 3 December 2014. Photographs: Kirby Burgess and Kurt Phelan.
REVIEWED by BRYCE HALLETT
When the feel-good Dirty Dancing whirred into life at the Theatre Royal a decade ago it was a relatively buoyant time in musical theatre. The joyous Mamma Mia! had just made its mark, Disney’s magical The Lion King was doing a brisk trade at the Capitol and The Producers – a book musical with original songs, romance, lavish costumes and plenty of gags courtesy of Mel Brooks – was about to high-kick its way into town…
Ordinarily, a musical as cardboard thin as Dirty Dancing wouldn’t stand out in the crowd but the production was that rare thing in Australia: it was not an import or a replica of a Broadway or West End show. Created and written by Eleanor Bergstein and faithfully adapted from the 1987 film starring Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze, the development of the musical drew on a wealth of Australian talent, including choreographer Kate Champion, costume designer Jennifer Irwin, musicians and performers. They helped flesh out the story and turn up the rhythmic heat in what is a quintessentially sweet American coming-of-age story set in the summer of 1963.
Finally, our creative teams and practitioners were being given their due and, if Hollywood could turn to Sydney to make movies, then why not stage spectaculars as well?
And so it was that Dirty Dancing’s world premiere at the Theatre Royal arrived amid great glamour and fanfare, not least the spectacle of the one-time impresario Kevin Jacobsen and his since estranged brother Col Joye stepping out of pink limousines to press the flesh with politicians and scantily-clad showgirls.
Although the original production had its weaknesses, including uneven direction and a shallowness in parts, there was never any doubt about the show’s potential to engage or empower. At the time I said, “There’s ample indication that the show has found its audience, given the raucous reception”.
And so it remains 10 years later as loyal and devoted fans at the Sydney Lyric mimic the dialogue, wince delightedly at the corny catch-phrases, sway to the music, wolf-whistle a bare-chested Kurt Phelan as Johnny Castle/Swayze and scream hysterically when he re-appears defiantly at the climax and says, “Nobody puts Baby in a corner”. Even if you don’t know the film it’s likely you’ll be swept up by the infectious, fever-pitch antics of the fans who do. Like Strictly Ballroom, it’s all about the seduction and liberating power of dance.
Director James Powell’s generally swift-moving production marries screen and stage technology cleverly and cheekily, and there’s always a panoramic sweep and sense of the bright, sunny outdoors of the resort in New York’s Catskill Mountains, even when scenes are intimate and indoors. The design by Stephen Brimson Lewis is visually appealing and enables the staging to be efficient and seamless, though not always as inspired as it could be.
The story of Frances “Baby” Houseman (Kirby Burgess), a well-educated yet sheltered 17-year-old, and the street smart Johnny Castle, a dance instructor from the wrong side of the tracks, is a close cousin to Grease, bears passing resemblance to the 1998 musical Footloose and has shades of West Side Story but without its cultural or musical depth.
Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story on Stage, however, is not a musical as much as it is a well-targeted, pink-packaged event that has the pulse and look of one. What it lacks in depth it makes up in the vibrancy of the dancing and music – a mix of recorded and live. A number of songs not in the film are added but the original soundtrack remains largely intact, including the songs Hungry Eyes, Do You Love Me? and the show-stopping [I’ve Had] The Time of My Life during which Johnny jubilantly carries and lifts our awakened heroine high into the air.
As Johnny, Phelan looks the part and moves with agility and ease but there’s not sufficient detail in his acting to make the charismatic character fully persuasive, although I’m sure that will come. Kirby Burgess delights as “Baby” and brings to the role a warmly appealing combination of anxiety and passion, sweetness and curiosity. When she rallies for support against her conservative and increasingly combative father, the character’s opened-hearted nature shines through the gawkiness and polite veneers.
One of the stand-out performances and virtues of the original production was Nadia Coote in the role of Penny Johnson, the striking dance instructor who faces her demons and is pivotal to the cultural clashes and moral arguments which give the show much of its spirit and grit. Again, Coote is poised, graceful and commanding.
Despite being little more than caricatures, Adam Murphy and Penny Martin find glimmers of tenderness beneath the Housemans' rigid social facade while Mike Bishop is very good as the resort tycoon Max Kellerman.
In his music theatre debut, Mark Vincent excels as Johnny’s cousin Billy and delivers one of the best vocal performances of the night. Teagan Wouters is wonderfully engaging and resourceful as Baby’s older sister Lisa and has tremendous fun in the second act singing/enacting the Hawaiian tune Hula Hana.
Dirty Dancing doesn’t break new ground or rewrite the rule books but it knows how to please its core constituency. In its best moments, the production is sexy and taut, and with the fine support of the ensemble, exhilarating and fun.
