West End Dirty Dancing Musical Sells Out First Two Months

The stage version of the upcoming West End musical Dirty Dancing, based on the beloved 1987 film, has sold out the first two months of its run--even before the show has been cast.

"This show has become the fastest to achieve such a level of sales in such a short period of time - this is unprecedented demand," stated a spokesman for the show. Due to open at the Aldwych Theatre on October 24th, the show has raked in more than £3m in ticket sales in the six weeks that tickets have been on sale, according to The Indepedent.

The film's screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein is writing Dirty Dancing's libretto. Bergstein based the story's setting on her own childhood experiences in the Catskill Mountains, where she used to spend family holidays. The movie smash, directed by Emile Ardolino and starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, recounted the romance of teenager Frances "Baby" Houseman and dance instructor Johnny Castle at an upscale holiday camp in the early '60s. The film featured a variety of '60s musical hits, such as "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Hungry Eyes," and "Do You Love Me?" The movie was the fifth highest-grossing film of 1987.

The casting search for Johnny and Baby continues. "Earlier this week, Covent Garden was besieged by thousands of hopefuls from around the country, all vying to star in the stage production. Closed auditions are now being held to make the final selection for the leading characters," states the article. About three thousand perfomers are reported to have tried out.

The stage musical version of Dirty Dancing was previously seen in Australia, where it premiered in Sydney in 2004 and went on to tour with Kym Valentine as Baby and Josef Brown as Johnny.

Dirty Dancing will succeed another musical based on an '80s film hit--Fame--at the Aldwych; the latter musical will close on April 29th. Meanwhile, the West End production of Footloose (which was a moderate musical hit on Broadway) began performances at the Novello Theatre on April 12th.