Dirty Dancing Review

DIRTY Dancing. Every single female on the planet loves it, and those who say they don't are lying, apparently.

Most men have seen it too, usually under duress. 

"As a standalone musical it's never going to take your breath away, but as a fan of the film, it hit all the right notes."

The stage show was under strict if unwritten orders to deliver certain things.

The list included a watermelon, a log, sticking-out skirts, lifts (of the dancing kind, not those made by Schindler), and a corner, that baby is most definitely not put in. 

And it doesn't disappoint, meeting every musical and moral obligation required. 

The script was almost word-for-word the same as the film, apart from a couple of scenes relating to the civil rights movement which one assumes were added in to give DD virgins some added understanding of the cultural setting.

They were unecessary, a bit weird and if you weren't a fan of the film, you wouldn't go and see it anyway would you?

The chap who played Johnny Castle had Patrick Swayze's body language and movements down to a tee - it was uncanny. The actress who played Baby had suitably curly hair and made the transition from a geek with two left feet to a dancing swan quite beautifully.  

The rest of the cast were great and whilst all the women in the audience were swooning over Johnny (and shouting "phwoar" and "you're fit" and other such refined feedback) the producers made sure there was something to interest all the poor boyfriends and husbands who'd been dragged along, in the shape of Penny.

The only blot on the landscape was the man who played Robbie, the womanising waiter. He was toe-curling at times.

As a standalone musical it's never going to take your breath away, but as a fan of the film, it hit all the right notes.

And yes, the lift was in there as well.

The time of your life? If you're a big fan of the film. All the required component parts with an added sprinkling of cheese. 

Meanwhile, the boys await Terminator - The Musical with baited beath.

Dirty Dancing runs until January 7 at the Palace Theatre