Review: DIRTY DANCING - THE CLASSIC STORY ON STAGE at the Buell Theatre

There's currently a live version of the classic movie Dirty Dancing touring, and it's in Denver through the end of the month.

I'll admit, I've never seen the film version of Dirty Dancing. (I swear, it's the truth.) But I had the time of my life. (OK, sorry.)

Before seeing the show, I really only knew a few facts about the movie: That song. The lift. And not to put babies in corners. My expectations were pretty easily met...but I had no idea of the magic that awaited me.

(My trusty date, Sarah, informed me the show was pretty much identical to the movie, down to the actors' inflections of certain lines. Bravo!)

If you've seen the movie, you could skip this part. But you probably shouldn't. Here's what the show is about:

It's set in 1963, but it has the essence of the late-1980s. A girl, nicknamed "Baby," and her family attend a summer camp, where somehow someone is allowed to initiate games of Simon Says that people seem to enjoy playing frequently. Her parents are mostly there for golf, though. There's also a lot of dancing. At one of the evening soirees that seem to happen pretty often, Baby sees the hottest guy at camp (Johnny Castle...or, you know, Patrick Swayze), which is arguable considering the rest of the young men there are perfectly fit models. He's dancing the mambo with a hot blonde, Penny, and they're crushing it. Baby clearly wants in on it. Later, she's helping a random guy carry watermelons, and they bring them to an off-limits cabin where all the camp workers hang out, including Johnny and his blonde. They all dance there, and it's dirty. Baby tries, but she's not at their level. Soon after, they discover Penny is pregnant, but she's not telling whose it is. She's going to get rid of it, though, but she needs $250. Baby gets the money from her dad. Unfortunately, the blonde's procedure is going to take place during the most important mambo of hers and Johnny's summer careers. Someone needs to step in and learn it, so Baby volunteers. Commence a montage of days where Baby slowly gets better at dancing with Johnny, and then they start to hook up. They end up dancing pretty well at the event, even though they just can't get a lift right. Meanwhile, the blonde's abortion was a little amateur, so Baby's dad shows up and fixes her. He learns that his $250 paid for that disaster, and he's pretty mad at Baby. He doesn't even know she's hooking up with the dance coach yet. Penny pays Baby's dad back while randomly teaching them dance lessons while they're trying to go golfing. A wallet goes missing, and for some reason Johnny is the suspect because of an eyewitness, possibly this feisty married cougar whom he didn't want to dance with anymore. She saw him and Baby kissing while she was casually smoking in the forest wearing formalwear. He doesn't have an alibi for where he was at the time. (It was with Baby.) She knows her alibi can save him, so she announces their relationship in front of her parents and camp officials. Turns out, she didn't need to do that, and now her parents are even more pissed and Johnny gets fired. At the final soiree of the summer, Baby is with her family and just feeling blue. Johnny shows up, since he always dances the last mambo of the summer (or something like that), and Baby joins him. Her parents are cool since she's a good dancer now. THEN THEY NAIL THE LIFT.

And it's all because she decided to be a nice person and help a guy with his watermelons.

The show was created by original co-producer to the movie, Eleanor Bergstein, back in 2004. It was launched successfully internationally. The current tour seems to be an updated version. James Powell directs this production with choreography by Michele Lynch. Kate Champion's iconic choreography from the movie is present as well.

Johnny is played by Christopher Tierney, whose familiarity bugged me the entire show until I realized he's the guy who had the major fall during the Spider-Man musical. I'm glad he's doing well. Baby is played by a cute Gillian Abbott. Both of the actors nail their portrayals while bringing a bit of their own flair to the characters. Their dance skills are everything you hoped.

The songs are (thankfully) not trying to incorporate themselves into the plot. Mainly they're just recordings of the original songs. Occasionally, though, real singers serenade scenes, and it works. Most of these songs are led by Adrienne Walker, Doug Carpenter and Jerome Harmann-Hardeman.

The older characters are particularly enjoyable, and you can tell they're having a ball up there. The younger ensemble is filled with of a bunch of really talented dancers. It's a solid cast.

It's actually incredibly difficult to tell if the acting is that of dancer-actors or if they're just really good at imitating the style of campy '80s flicks. Either way, it just adds to the show's kitsch even more.

The show is basically performed in front of a few video projections that look like they were pulled out of a screensaver collection. And it was perfect.

Most of the camp's employees are also a part of some secret society of sexy dancers. There's a seemingly quick fix for a botched back-alley abortion. One scene might have a bunch of camp coworkers possibly about to have sex in space? They're at a family summer camp, right?

At first I wasn't sure if I was enjoying myself or trying to figure out what it was trying to be. But then then Baby and Johnny were spotlighted behind projections of a forest glade and a flowing lake, and they went full-out Ariel with hair-flipping out of the water. (This must be an iconic movie moment.) And I was sold. To be as honest as I can be about my feelings toward this show, a text to my boyfriend at intermission:

"They're dancing in front of screensavers and they know it and I love it."

And I think you will, too. Especially if you're a fan of the '80s flick. I didn't even have that nostalgia to bring along for the ride.

Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story on Stage plays the Buell Theatre with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts through Jan 31. Tickets are available at DenverCenter.org or by calling the box office at (303)893-4100. For group tickets, call (303)446-4829.

Photos by Matthew Murphy

To post a comment, you must register and login.