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Dirty Dancing at the Aldwych Theater
Booking up to 11 April 2009
There is no doubt the astounding pre booking sales for this
show are thanks to the huge army of fans from the original
movie. Dirty Dancing was released in 1987 and has become one
of the most watched films of all time. Starring Patrick
Swayze and Jennifer Grey, the success of the film at first
seemed unlikely. With initial financial problems and tension
between the two leading actors, filming was beset with
problems, including severe weather conditions and injuries
to Swayze due to his insistence on doing his own stunts.
During the scene where he and Grey are balanced on the log,
he fell and injured his knee so often that he ended up in
hospital needing fluid drainage!
The tension between the two actors though smoothed over
initially, soon arose again to the dismay of director Emile
Ardolino. Early screen tests between the two captured the
amazing chemistry that would eventually show up on screen.
However weeks of filming, dogged with problems bought old
tensions to the surface and the coolness between Swayze and
Grey was tangible. Ardolino eventually made them both sit
and watch their screen tests in the hope it would reignite
passion for the project. He was right and filming continued
with renewed enthusiasm.
A revelation about one very famous scene highlights the
tension between the two leads. Grey is standing in front of
Swayze with her back to him and her arm up behind his head.
He then trails his fingers down her arm in an intimate
gesture. The spontaneous laugher of Grey was actually non
scripted and was because she found the feather touch of
Swayze ticklish. He in turn got more and more annoyed as
take after take was shot. Eventually Ardolino kept this in
the movie and it has become one of the most famous scenes of
all and is depicted on the advertising poster.
It is the dancing however that made
Dirty Dancing so
memorable. The dance steps Baby learns become an analogy for
her first steps into womanhood, as the closeness between her
and Johnny leads to a physical relationship. The girl grows
into a woman as she secretly takes over as Johnny's dance
partner, learning how to do the 'Mambo' (dirty dancing). It
is the climatic finale to the movie where we see Baby and
Johnny perform as man and woman in front of the resort
guests, including Baby's own family who are completely
unaware of her dancing lessons. This dance sequence is
exciting with some spine tingling moments, culminating in
Baby's lift high in the air on Johnny's outstretched hands.
Dirty Dancing the musical was always going to cause division
amongst fans because of certain expectations; the same
chemistry between the two leads is required and they must
resemble the boy/girl next door. The innocence of
youth juxtaposed with the sexuality of the dancing is
integral to the original plot, and true fans wanted no
compromise. Well it is nearly a year and a half after its
original opening and tickets are still sold out months (and
months) in advance. Director James Powell had the sense and
capability to faithfully follow the 1987 film, thus ensuring
a box office hit.
The music of course has been inherent to the success of the
Dirty Dancing 'product', with a soundtrack that is one
of the biggest sellers of all time with some classic hits
including of course the Golden Globe and Academy Award for
Best Original Song, “(I've Had) The time of My Life”.
Going to see Dirty Dancing is not like a cultural experience
of highbrow musical theatre and I don't think anyone would
expect that. But you will have an unabashed evening of
enjoyable, uplifting fun.
It really is hard to get tickets for this musical but I
would recommend you book your theatre
tickets online now. Concierge Desk will be able to get
you the best tickets at competitive prices.
To
reserve your seats visit our secure on-line shop
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