Dancing up a storm
NOBODY puts Baby in a corner and certainly nobody is going to keep quiet about this spectacular production of Dirty Dancing at the Lyric Theatre at QPAC.
It’s a true nostalgia trip for lovers of the 1997 movie starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey with this Brisbane stage version sporting dazzling sets that blend many of the movie’s key moments with live theatre.
There’s the balancing on a tree log in the rainforest, and the practising of the big lift in the water, which drew many a laugh as the lead actors “fell” in and tossed water from their heads as they emerged.
The show has great production values; beautiful dancing, strong singing when it happens, plenty of comic moments, and a feisty orchestra upstage, making it a passionate rendition of a much loved coming-of-age tale of romance.
The stars, Kurt Phelan as the vulnerable yet seemingly hard-nosed lead dancer, Johnny Castle, and Kirby Burgess as Baby, the young girl emerging from the influence of her middle-class parents, are very similar to their film counterparts, Burgess more so than Phelan, who at times tends to come across more like Grease’s Danny Zuko.
Both performers dance with gusto and they work very well together. Burgess is particularly amusing as Baby when acting the geek learning to dance and drew many laughs from the audience.
Another standout performer is Maddie Peat as dance teacher Penny Johnson, the girl who gets into trouble, with her enviable high kicks and dancing prowess.
What may sound strange when talking about what is essentially a dance show, is there was room for more dancing.
I did have a desire for bigger and more frequent numbers amid the narrative because there are a lot of scenes, and there is also a yearning for some of the songs we are familiar with, such as Hungry Eyes, to be sung rather than performed as an instrumental, as well as She’s like the Wind.
The big winner in this production is the very clever and smooth-transitioning sets and scenes that make for a visual feast bringing us to many locations and propelling the action forward.
That and the sheer exuberance of the performers who received a standing ovation after the ultimate dance scene and yes, the famous Dirty Dancing lift with the final number Time of My Life.
DIRTY DANCING CONTINUES AT QPAC’S LYRIC THEATRE, BRISBANE UNTIL JULY 19. BOOK AT QPAC.COM.AU.