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DIRTY DANCING KICKS UP SOME DUST AT THE PANTAGES
By Tony Reverditto
Dirty Dancing is being billed as "a worldwide musical smash" and presents a pre-Broadway, West Coast premiere at the historical Pantages Theatre in Hollywood!
The 1987 movie release, in some circles is considered a legendary entertainment phenomenon of it's time with a box office gross of over sixty four million. In a time when screen to stage adaptations seem to be all the rage, you can now experience a Dirty Dancing recreation in the flesh. The original screenwriter, Eleanor Bergstein has reinvented the script for the stage but keeps it true to a film-like style. "DIRTY DANCING - The Classic Story On Stage", is a unique live experience filled with passionate music and sensationally sexy timeless dancing."
Here's a refresher on the plot . . . it's the sixties and the privileged Frances "Baby" Houseman, a sweet daddy's girl goes with her family to a resort in upstate New York's Catskill Mountains. Baby becomes infatuated with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle, a man whose background is vastly different from hers. She tells her father a big fat lie in order to get money to secretly pay for an illegal abortion for Johnny's original dance partner Penny. FYI, Johnny is not the father. Baby struggles to fill in as Johnny's dance partner and if that isn't tough enough, everything totally falls apart when Penny falls seriously ill after her abortion. Baby's father happens to be a doctor and saves her life, but in the same breath bans his daughter from any further association with "those people". In the first (or is it now the second) deliberately defiant act of her life, Baby sneaks out to see Johnny and consummates their blossoming relationship. Shortly thereafter, Johnny gets falsely implicated and accused of a theft. Enter Baby, who steps up to declare his innocence and provides an iron clad alibi; she admits that they were together that whole night. Naturally, this prompts an interesting turn of events as the rest of the story unfolds.
Amanda Leigh Cobb updates the role of Frances 'Baby' Houseman, and does a sweet, understated, yet adequate imitation of Jennifer Grey's portrayal of the character. Josef Brown re-creates Patrick Swayze's "Johnny Castle" having previously played the role in London and Australia. He delivers a unique edge and although appealing to watch, he was inaudible a few times. Britta Lazenga, a member of the Joffrey Ballet delivers a sassy, sleek and a prima ballerina stand-out performance as the pregnant Penny Johnson. Ben Mingay, John Bolger, Kaitlin Hopkins, and Katlyn Carlson co-star and all offer strong support. I was pretty close to the stage and maybe the acoustics were strange, but I struggled to hear the dialogue from some of the principal characters a few times. If those actors speak up a bit, without sacrificing the intimacy, it will strengthen their performances and the overall impact will make it to the last row.
Rounding out the energetic cast of thirty-nine are Molly C. Callinan, Joseph Costa, Jonathan Epstein, Ryan Farrell, Michael Howell, Lauren Klein, Michael Lluberes, Michael Zahler, John Antony, Timothy Bish, Thea Brooks, Karen Burthwright, Theresa Coombe, E. Clayton Cornelious, Jean Michel Erole, Ashley Blair Fitzgerald, Hayley Henderson-Smith, Darina Jeleva, Travis Kelley, Charlie Logan, Lauralyn McClelland, Erich McMillan-McCall, Samuel Pergande, Andrew Pirozzi, Sarah Skogland, W. Easton Smith, Billy Harrigan Tighe, Aspen Vincent, Tony Vincent, Emily J. Williams, and Candice Woods.
The slick set design by Stephen Brimson Lewis utilizes awesome large LED screens as the backdrop. This technology can replicate any realistic live action setting, a sunny meadow to a traffic jam in the city to a stormy seascape, in a split second. From my vantage point the overwhelming beautiful imagery, at times, overpowered some of the actors, but was a feast for the eyes. The choreography by Bill Burns worked wonderfully with the orchestra led by Martyn Axe.
*Highly Recommended (Especially to fans of the Dirty Dancing movie and newbie's)
Theatre Information Hotline: 323.468.1770
Dirty Dancing runs Tuesdays through Sundays through June 28th at 8 p.m. with Saturday matinees at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday performances at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
The Pantages Theatre, formerly known as RKO Pantages Theatre, is located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard. Designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, it was the last theatre built for the impresario Alexander Pantages. The palatial Art Deco theatre opened on June 4th, 1930, as part of the Fox Theatre chain and was restored to its natural luster a few years ago.
For more information, www.dirtydancingamerica.com