STRICTLY BALLROOM Will Dance Out of the West End October 27

Strictly Ballroom The Musical is based on Baz Luhrmann's acclaimed film and was transformed into a spectacular and joyous West End musical, opening April 24 at London's Piccadilly Theatre. The dance tale will end its run on October 27.

Strictly Ballroom tells the story of Scott Hastings - an arrogant young ballroom champion who gets in trouble for daring to dance his own steps. When he ends up dancing with a beginner, Fran, together they find the courage to defy tradition with moves that aren't "strictly ballroom"...

The show features over 30 classic hits including Time After Time, Let's Dance, I'm So Excited, Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Sway (Quien Sera), Mambo No. 5, Dancing With Myself, Sugar Sugar, It's the End of the World as We Know It, Teardrops, and Love is in the Air.

Director/choreographer Drew McOnie (Jesus Christ Superstar, In The Heights) has brought the story to life with a heart-stopping fusion of dance styles - together with a sensational cast led by Jonny Labey (EastEnders), Zizi Strallen (Mary Poppins, Follies).

The cast includes Michelle Bishop (The Great American Trailer, Sunset Boulevard) as Pam Short, Matt Cardle as Wally Strand Ivan de Freitas (Jesus Christ Superstar, Aladdin) as Merv, Anna Francolini (Peter Pan, wonder.land) as Shirley Hastings, Gabriela Garcia (In The Heights, Ghost) as Vanessa Cronin, Charlotte Gooch (Top Hat, Dirty Dancing) as Tina Sparkle, Richard Grieve (Neighbours, Emmerdale and Priscilla Queen of the Desert) as Les Kendall, Gerard Horan (The Ferryman, The Vote) as Barry Fife, Liam Marcellino (Cabaret, Miss Saigon) as Wayne Burns, Stephen Matthews (The Lion King, The Producers) as Doug Hastings, Fernando Mira (ENO, Victorian State Opera) as Rico, Eve Polycarpou (Palace of the End, In The Heights) as Abuela, Lauren Stroud (Scrooge, Top Hat) as Liz Holt & Gary Watson (Jersey Boys, Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be, A Chorus Line,) as Ken Railings.

The cast also includes Chris Bennett, Chrissy Brooke, Hannah Fairclough, Lavinia Fitzpatrick, Selina Hamilton, Tim Hodges, Christopher D Hunt, Luke Jackson, Justin-Lee Jones, Robin Kent, Jacob Maynard, Freya Rowley, Leanne Pinder, Tinovimbanashe Sibanda & Dale White.

Photo Credit: Johan Persson