Review Roundup: Baz Luhrmann's STRICTLY BALLROOM in Melbourne

Baz Luhrmann's much-loved hit show STRICTLY BALLROOM THE MUSICAL just opened in Melbourne at Her Majesty's Theatre. This new production is staged by the original creative team behind the classic 1992 film, including director and co-writerBaz Luhrmann, set and costume designer Catherine Martin, choreographer John "Cha Cha" O'Connell and co-writer Craig Pearce. Playing the pivotal roles of 'Scott Hastings' and 'Fran' is Thomas Lacey and Phoebe Panaretos who lead an outstanding Australian cast of 43 including Bob Baines as Les Kendall, Drew Forsythe as Doug Hastings, Natalie Gamsu as Abuela, Robert Grubb as Barry Fife, Fernando Mira as Rico, Heather Mitchell as Shirley Hastings and Mark Owen-Taylor as JJ Silvers.

STRICTLY BALLROOM THE MUSICAL is the inspiring story of a championship ballroom dancer who defies all the rules to follow his heart. This uplifting and courageous tale originated as a stage play that Baz Luhrmann devised with a group of students at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) back in 1984.

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Tim Carney, BroadwayWorld: Strictly Ballroom's redeeming feature, (and the only part that is not boring) is Catherine Martin's design. Thank goodness for this. The set and costume design are quite simply stunning and visually the show is spectacular. Put the costumes and set into a visual arts museum and you would have a wonderful exhibition, couple it with the book and score and you have an exhibition of how not to produce a musical. This is Global Creature's second major production in as many years, and while King Kong had a mystic and spiritual heart, this follow up really lacks any notion of heart. Both shows have gone for visual wow factor and have achieved it beyond doubt, but at what cost? In the case ofStrictly Ballroom, it's at the cost of tarnishing a truly iconic Australian film.

Stephenie Glickman, Herald Sun: Drew Forsythe's meek-mouthed Doug Hastings is a treat, especially when he's finally let loose inThe Looks, The Charm. Jarryd Byrne's ballroom training stands out from the pack. Heather Mitchell, as Lycra-clad stage mom Shirley Hastings, doesn't hold back and Robert Grubb is well-cast as the wigged and dodgy ballroom king Barry Fife. Big, colourful dance numbers (choreographed by John O'Connell) rack up the most trophies - the feathery waltzes, the stomping Paso Dobles and the bogo pogo accented samba. Not strictly ballroom of course, but all the more fun for it.

Cameron Woodhead, Sydney Morning Herald: One problem with Strictly Ballroom, maybe the biggest, is the camping up of the ballroom dancing scene into something south of pantomime. Admittedly, Heather Mitchell channels the comedic horrors of a stage mother to hilarious effect, but the forces of darkness - led by Robert Grubb as the slimy president of the ballroom dancing association - are such grotesquely inflated lampoons that they lose touch with the parochialism and ocker small-mindedness which should serve as the substrate of reality behind them. Luhrmann's stage wizardry can still be breathtaking. The glorious end to the first act, with its swirl of flamenco and welter of operatic feeling, gives a taste of the theatrical heights to which Strictly Ballroom the Musical can rise.

Jason Whittaker, Daily Review: Sorry, Baz. But anyone with an attention span longer than a goldfish can see through the razzle-dazzle to how dramatically and musically unsound this show is. Theatre, unlike film, "continues to grow", he told the Melbourne party crowd intoxicated by celebrity guests and chocolate fountains on Saturday. On a barren musical theatre landscape in this country, shows deserve enough time and space to flourish, certainly. But we're a long way from the tinkering phase with this piece. Unless you're prepared to abandon the iTunes shuffle score, and blundering book, entirely, this is an unsalvageable wreck of a work.

Simon Parris, Man In Chair: The overall staging is notable for the particularly strong collaboration between the creative team. The replication of cinematic dissolves and crosscuts is achieved by the combination of tight scripting, rotating scenery and flowing curtains, fast costume changes, flowing music, strong character work, continuous dancing and the superb work of lighting designer Hugh Vanstone, whose masterful work draws the eye with pinpoint accuracy. A perfect example of this seamless creative alliance is the brilliant act two sequence that begins with "The Looks, The Charm," in which the devious Barry Fife spins Scott an elaborate furphy about his parents' past. From a simple setting at the dance school, a heightened world pours forth, featuring infectious music, cute dance steps, multiple mirror balls, outrageous characterisation from the cast's best actors, deliberately over the top costumes and even bigger wigs, before the scene melts back to the dance school.

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