Review: STRICTLY BALLROOM THE MUSICAL, Birmingham Hippodrome

The cast and creatives attached to this production of Strictly Ballroom the Musical are enough to make any Strictly Come Dancing fan salivate. It's directed by the famously acerbic judge Craig Revel Horwood, and co-choreographed by Horwood and Strictly creative director Jason Gilkison. Much-loved Strictly professional Kevin Clifton stars as Scott, opposite 2020 finalist Maisie Smith as Fran. Yet despite what should be a winning team, this production fails to find all the right moves.

Adapted from Baz Luhrmann's 1992 movie, the musical version of Strictly Ballroom has had a few different forms, starting in Sydney as a show that mixed existing songs with new compositions by an array of writers such as Eddie Perfect and David Foster, before coming to the West End as a reworked jukebox musical, with the new songs removed. This production is closer to the first incarnation, which feels ill-advised, as the original songs are mostly forgettable, and sit awkwardly alongside a few popular tracks like "Time After Time" and "Love is in the Air".

The story is simple: Scott loses his dance partner after refusing to follow the strict ballroom rules imposed by the Australian Dancing Federation. Luckily, there's a plucky beginner dancer called Fran who volunteers to partner with him, and together they plan to win the Pan Pacific Dancing Championship with their own style of dance, regardless of what their families might think. It may be a flimsy plot, but there are strong themes of expressing yourself, finding joy in dance and not conforming to expectations.

Clifton and Smith are charismatic in their roles, with a sweet chemistry. Smith in particular gives a warm, goofy performance that makes the audience root for her immediately (though it would be nice if we could move past the trope of a woman needing to remove her glasses before she can be considered attractive). And while neither Clifton nor Smith are powerhouse singers, they do a decent job at pulling off the songs, and their voices complement each other nicely on the gentle ballad "Beautiful Surprise", the one original song that makes an impact.

The show is at its best when it gives us the quiet, intimate moments between Clifton and Smith, but unfortunately these are few and far between, with much of the time taken up by an array of supporting characters who - with the exception of Fran's family - are mostly shrill caricatures who range from unlikeable to repellent. Luhrmann and Craig Pearce's book does its best to draw humour from these characters, but many of the jokes don't land. At times the attempted humour is unpleasantly crude, sexist or even inexplicable, with a scene that features men in their underwear urinating around the side of the stage being a particular head-scratcher.

Of course, you might expect the dancing to be the star of the show, and it does shine at some points, most notably in the Act One closer where Fran's father (Jose Agudo) introduces Scott to the Paso Doble in an electric scene. At other points, though, it falls flat, with routines being truncated to fit snippets of music, and the dancers feeling hemmed in by the arching walls of the set.

There's certainly not enough of Scott and Fran dancing together, and ironically it's only during the curtain call that we see the full power of Clifton's dancing unleashed. We do get to enjoy some classic ballroom costumes with lots of glitz and glamour, thanks to set and costume designer Mark Walters, but the wigs are a different matter, and are distractingly bad.

With the right direction and songs, Strictly Ballroom the Musical has the potential to be a fun feel-good show, but this production has too many problems, and on press night the audience reaction was decidedly mixed. There are enjoyable moments, but ultimately even the charming performances of Clifton and Smith can't save this messy musical.

Strictly Ballroom the Musical at Birmingham Hippodrome until 5 November, then touring

Photo Credit: Ellie Kurttz

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