Sunderland Empire – until 15 October 2022
Reviewed by Alex Sykes
3***
I saw Strictly Ballroom when it was in the West End in 2018. I really enjoyed that production, so I was looking forward to seeing the show at Sunderland Empire.
Set in Australia in the 1990’s, Strictly Ballroom tells the tale of Scott Hastings who dares to dance his own steps. Jeopardising his chances of winning the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championship, something his mum Shirley (Nikki Belsher) and dance partner Les (Quinn Patrick) have had him working towards since he was 6. Scott’s partner Liz (Agnes Pure) leaves him and the plan is to get him dancing with Tina Sparkles (Danielle Cato). Enter Fran (Maisie Smith) , a novice but willing to learn and happy to do their own steps. When Scott follows Fran home, her Abuela (the excellent Karen Mann) and father Rico (the sublime Jose Agudo) teach him the Paso Doble, encouraging him to feel the rhythm. But Australian Dance Federation Head, Barry Fife (Gary Davis) is against any kind of individuality and insists innovative dance routines will be banned.
In the West End version, Will Young played the character of Wally Strand who narrated the show, moving the characters along and singing the vast majority of the songs. Wally is missing from this version, which could explain why it didn’t seem to move along as well as it could.
I’m hoping it’s just teething problems for the negatives but there are many. Both Kevin Clifton and Maisie Smith can dance, they are amazing, and they can both sing but neither seemed to have the vocal strength to carry a musical. In fact it was very difficult to hear them, especially Smith – whether this was down to the sound problem that persisted throughout the show I don’t know. The live band (Dustin Conrad, Catherine Benson, Ryan Webber, Aidan Platts, Danny Newell and Hannah Corcoran) were excellent but loud, drowning out the majority of the singing – again this may be down to the sound problem. In fact the whole cast seemed to shouting the dialogue instead of acting it. The video screen at the back, setting the scene, had pixels all over the place during Act 1 but this was sorted by Act 2. And for reasons I didn’t understand, whilst Scott lived in 1990’s Australia – it would appear Fran lived in 1940’s Latin America
But let’s get to the positives. Lydia Hardimans costumes are fantastic. Craig Revel Horwood and Jason Gilkinson’s choreography is FAB-U-LOUS, but I would expect nothing else. The last scene of Act 1 is one of the best showstoppers I have seen; quite literally a superlative masterclass of the Paso Doble. Jose Aguado and company fully deserved the standing ovation.
Hopefully the problems will be ironed out and the show can continue on tour to rave reviews, because I’m sure there is a brilliant show in there just waiting to waltz its way out there