22 January 2012 (Theatre Review)

Star Rating: 4/5

Title: Dirty Dancing
Venue: The Grand Canal Theatre
Dates: Until the 25th February, 7.30pm
Price: €25 - €60

Director: Sarah Tipple
Choreographer: Russell Smith
Writer: Eleanor Bergstein
Actors: Emily Holt, Paul-Michael Jones, Charlotte Gooch, Thomas Aldridge, Colin Charles, Lynden Edwards, Joe Evans, Mark Faith, Shona Lindsay, Jack McKenzie, Emilia Williams.

There is a peculiar sort of atmosphere hanging around Grand Canal Dock. Any man within a hundred feet of the Grand Canal Theatre can feel it. The male box office staff look on edge as they hear the stampede of women flocking in excitable packs to Dirty Dancing grow ever closer. I don't know if it's the lusty dance scenes, the timeless songs or the memories brought forth by now cliched lines such as "I carried a watermelon" but this show has tapped into something special that managed to transport every woman in attendance to their teenage years – high pitched screams and all.

For those who spent the 80s in a more productive manner than watching the many cheesy films churned out in the era of tack, Dirty Dancing is a mash-up of The Ugly Duckling, The Prince and the Pauper and an episode of Strictly Come Dancing with subtle accents of a Ricky Martin video. Frances Hausmann, known to everyone as Baby, arrives to Kellerman’s holiday resort with her parents and sister, oblivious to the fact that the days that lie ahead would change her forever. Baby, played by Emily Holt, meets Johnny Castle (Paul-Michael Jones) who shakes up her squeaky clean existence and teaches her how to dance.

Thankfully this production is not a musical in the strict sense of the word. Many of the cast do sing, and sing well, and of course the soundtrack is a key element of the Dirty Dancing appeal but, for the most part the creative team have managed to stay faithful to the film and not given into temptations to pad out proceedings with extra songs. The script is pretty much word for word, evident by the audience members' ability to mouth along with the cast – a clever move as I'm confident that any diversions from the original would amount to blasphemy with this crowd. The set design is clever and attractive, with filmic aspects integrated that make sure that we are all on the same page – this is Dirty Dancing brought to the stage, not a musical adaptation. The technicolour background projections that melt from scene to scene add a splash of fun to the set and ensure that aspects of the story are not forfeited for the sake of the stage: We are transported swiftly from the dance studio, to the swimming pool and to the iconic lift scene in the lake.

The cast are also faithful to their predecessors with the leads, Holt and Jones in particular, embodying the mannerisms of Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze with scary accuracy. The stunning Charlotte Gooch, who plays the part of Penny, Johnny's friend and dance partner, also gives a stand out performance with truly phenomenol dancing and a likeable characterisation. The only weak link in the whole ensemble is Emilia Williams who hams up the part of Baby's sister to excruciating levels. But still, she gets a big laugh.

Dirty Dancing is well executed on almost every level with just the right amount of fun, heat, cheese and heart to ensure an enjoyable, somewhat hysterical, evening at the theatre.