Dirty Dancing: You Won't Have the Time of Your Life

Movies on stage are all rage and Dirty Dancing seems well suited for adaptation. The romantic classic of the 80s has an amazing soundtrack, wild dance numbers, and a constantly growing fan base.  The staged version is perfect for purists. It's the same story, same music, and same dancing all for a Broadway ticket price. Or you could spend less than $15 on the real thing.

We've seen this story so many times; Frances "Baby" Houseman (Amanda Leigh Cobb) plans to have weeks of safe, family fun only to get wrapped up in the naughty world of rock and roll. Dirty Dancing brings the charm and flash of a 20 year old movie without any updates, new outfits, or even concealer (otherwise known as nostalgia) for the noticeable wrinkles. Instead, the show tries to cover its failings with bright pinks lights, a ploy that worked once with Legal Blonde: The Musical, but not again.

Dirty Dancing assumes its 80's charm will be enough nostalgia. Parts of the plot get fleshed out, like much more time with Baby getting wooed by future hotel manager Neil Kellerman (Adam Overett) or allusions to waiters heading down to Mississippi to protest for civil rights. The few added lines only waste time between dancing and prove how hollow the show is for three hours of plot. Looking at another child of the 80s about the 60s turned stage musical, Hairspray shows how not much plot can be made into a fabulous Broadway event, with over-the-top costumes, staging, and a toe-tappingly original soundtrack.  Dirty Dancing adds none of this.

The soundtrack is literally a soundtrack; most songs are recordings played in the background. To call this a musical is a stretch. Baby and Johnny (Josef Brown) never sing. On that rare occasions cast members do sing, when not part of a talent show, the song feels awkward and forced like, when did this suddenly become a musical.  

The dancing is enjoyable but forgettable, and for a show not willing to give us original music, the dancing needs to be breathtaking. Baby and Johnny perform the same routine as in the movie. Big dance numbers, which are few and far between, are chaotic rather than coordinated, thanks in part to the movie screen in the background showing the dancers dance while their dancing.

With no singing and the dancing muddled by Matrix-style dance party visuals, the acting is as expectedly shallow. Baby is whiny and Johnny is stoic. Their dancing is methodical and lacks enough romance to keep the camp believable (it makes you realize how much acting Patrick Swayze had to do). The serious moments feel trivial and anti-climatic while the comedy with worth a snicker at best.

As a whole, the incredible production values are overdone and distracting.  Baby paces across the stage every time she pouts (so a lot), and every time platforms rise, then fall, then rise again just to show they can.  The show made interesting use of scrims for practicing dancing in the water and movie screens, one showing the sky progressing during the day and another stage level providing simple but vibrant backdrops. You'd think the lack of set changes would have shrunk the running time, but no, enough fluff was added. 

Take $15 and buy the DVD. Even the biggest fans of the movie will wonder why they left the house for this big budget staged reading of the movie's script. There's nothing new or exciting or innovative to give anyone reason to spend upwards of $100 on a ticket. The reason to adapt Dirty Dancing to the stage is because of its popularity, and recognizing that popularity means adding something special. Dirty Dancing isn't just bland and generic. It's a repeat on stage.

Photo by: David Scheinmenn

Pictured Amanda Leigh Cobb and Josef Brown