FESTIVAL THEATRE, EDINBURGH – UNTIL 13th NOVEMBER
REVIEWED BY RACHEL FARRIER
4****
Audiences for this show will no doubt come with expectations based upon watching the film Dirty Dancing and this version will certainly not disappoint in terms of matching what they would expect from the dancing (which indeed is very convincingly dirty throughout – much to audience’s delight).
Outstanding dance performances from the outset in particular from Michael O’Reilly as Johnny and Carlie Milner as Penny were really captivating and set the tone for beautifully choreographed and executed routines throughout the show. Kira Malou as Baby was convincingly naive and incompetent at dancing to begin with, and her progression to raunchy dancer and not-so-innocent teen was both sweet and entertaining. Marie Finlayson (ensemble) and Samuel Bailey (as Billy Kostecki) both impressed in terms of vocals, and Colin Charles as Tito Suarez also put in a brilliantly entertaining performance with equally impressive dance and vocal skills. Lizzie Oatley as Lisa Houseman also deserves a special mention for her highly amusing Hula.
The set was nothing to write home about (think lavish high school production values) but the stream of exceptional dance numbers meant that this really didn’t matter.
The plot moves on apace in the stage version and it has to be said that some of the acting was rather stilted and on occasions it was hard to hear dialogue, so if you weren’t familiar with the plot it might have been quite hard to follow the detail of what was going on.
However, the audience clearly knew exactly what to expect from each scene (the woman sitting next to me was reciting the lines along with the actors) and the standing ovation at the finale demonstrated how much fun had been had.