‘Love, Love is Strange’ – Dirty Dancing, Churchill Theatre, Bromley. 07.03.2017
I was very excited to have been invited back to the Churchill for this press night, as along with a show there was a little celebration too!
Dirty Dancing was making its 7,000 performance on the Churchill’s stage, and before the curtain up, myself and Laura were welcomed to share a glass of
Prosecco and cake to celebrate. We also got to meet the producers of the production Producers Karl Sydow, and Paul Elliot, and also the original cast (Johnny, Baby, and Penny) of the Dirty Dancing tour. It was lovely to be a part of such achievement, and I’m sure that it won’t be long until they are celebrating their 8,000 performance – I may be a little older then!
After finishing our drinks, we headed to take our seats and tonight we were Row L seats 36 and 37, our view was fine, but at times the right stage was out of view when some of the characters were walking up the stairs and through the door. But for the duration of the production it was central for all to see. 
Dirty Dancing, the classic story on stage, is the live version on the 1987 film classic which starred the late Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, and Jerry Orbach. It tell the story of coming to age, 17 year old Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman who attend a holiday summer resort Kellermans along with her family. With dreams of going to university and joining the peace corps, then she meets Johnny Castle the dance teacher at the resort. They fall for each other after Baby steps in to cover for Johnny’s dance partner Penny after she falls pregnant, and together they learn from each other as well as teaching those around them. It is a classic story that has been seen and loved by many, with memorable lines from ‘I carried the watermelon’ to ‘Nobody puts baby in the corner’ and uplifting music such as Love is Strange, Do You Love Me? and (I’ve Had) The Time of my Life’ I would be very surprised if you didn’t know this film.
So how does the stage version compare? True to the film the story is strong throughout, with only a few extra scenes that support a backing story to Baby’s parents and Neil Kellermans want to march down in Mississippi, I had noticed. The set was very simple yet worked well wit the story, and not be too distracting with changes, however during some scenes such as the lake scene it wasn’t as effective but I can understand this, as how can you portray water on stage without it being too much? That being said the audience enjoyed it, and found the humour in the scene. I had seen the tour prior to this production 5 years ago, at the Mayflower in Southampton a bigger stage to that of the Churchill, however I felt it worked better on a smaller stage making it a lot more intimate with the audience.
The other thing is that it isn’t truly a musical at times, there are 44 songs in the whole performance 16 of which are played as the original singers of the songs, such as Cry to Me, Wipe Out, and Hungry Eyes. I loved this approach as they didn’t try to take away anything from the classic, such as having Johnny and Baby break out into song every scene, but allow their story to be portrayed beautifully live just as it should be. Those songs that were sung by the company were mainly by 2 characters, with support from the chorus.
Now onto the cast:
Francis ‘Baby’ Houseman – Katie Hartland
Johnny Castle – Lewis Griffiths
Penny Johnson – Carlie Milner
Tito Suarez – Trevor Michael Georges
Dr. Jake Houseman – Julian Harries
Mr Schumacher – Nigel Nevinson
Marjorie Houseman – Simone Craddock
Max Kellerman – Greg Fossard
Billy Kostecki – Michael Kent
Lisa Houseman – Lizzie Ottley
Elizabeth – Daniela Pobega
Robbie Gould – Robert Colvin
Vivian Pressman – Camilla Rowland
Ensemble – Gabby Antrobus, Imogen Brooke, Simon Campbell, Katie Eccles, Beth Highstead, Megan Louch, Ashley Rumble, Samuel John-Humphreys, Matthew James Hinchliffe, Kage Douglas, Austin Wilks
First the leading couple, Baby and Johnny, both of whom have tough shoes to fill, Katie makes her debut with Baby, but you would have thought she had been doing this for years. Her Baby was perfect, with the personality to suit within her acting ability, her dancing was brilliant – even when she needed to portray badly it still looked easy for her and she was a delight to watch. Her chemistry with Lewis playing Johnny also shone through to the audience, and the love story was defiantly there. Lewis had the body, attitude and persona of the legendary dance teacher, his speech also you could tell he had watch Patrick in the film to stay true to the character. He had the ladies in the audiences swooning. 
Dance partner Penny played by Carlie Milner had legs like no other, her dances were a mesmerising to watch, along with all the ensemble dancers, that kicked and spun beautifully together, you could tell they were having ‘The time of their life’ up there!
The two main singers of the night came from Daniela Pobega, and Michael Kent who played Elizabeth, and Billy, both voices were well suited to each others, and their duets were a delight to listen to. Daniela has a powerful belt but at times she 
tried too hard I felt with some songs, and feel that a softer approach would have helped. Trevor also had his few numbers as Tito, who had the soul in each song he sung.
The Houseman family also were great to watch, and one that some of the audience can relate to, Julian’s portrayal of Jake, showed a true father who just wanted what was best for his daughters, Simone as Marjorie a loving mother, and Lizzie as Lisa the older sister, her rendition of Lisa’s Hula was very entertaining to watch and had the audience laughing throughout. The whole cast was brilliant.
If you are looking for great entertainment, especially a girls night out then Dirty Dancing is perfect for just that! At the end of the show, its not hard to want to get up from your seat and dance along to the music, you come away smiling, and humming all the classic sung that night.
Dirty Dancing is playing at the Churchill Theatre until the 11th March, for tickets go Here. For further tour information go to the main website here.
