You know a show like Dirty Dancing is almost beyond criticism when a huge cheer goes up as the first bar of music is struck and there is no-one on stage.
This is an audience who have to come to party at the stage version of a movie that is a part of the soundtrack of their lives so they want to see it recreated scene by classic scene.
So they are in luck because a talented and energetic cast give them what they want and then some. This is the tale of gawky teenager Baby Houseman who becomes a woman thanks to some very dirty dancing with rough – but caring – holiday camp dance instructor Johnny.
The film is a kitsch classic, but at the heart of it Patrick Swayze was magnetic as Johnny. Paul-Michael Jones might not have quite have Swayze’s acting chops but he is certainly his equal as a dancer. Emily Holt as Baby seems to be channelling Barbara Streisand at times, but is an accomplished actress capturing all the young woman’s torn loyalties and sexual confusion.
Dirty Dancing is a B-movie, but there is a pretty explicit backstreet abortion gone wrong subplot, and this is where the real star of the show comes into her own. Charlotte Gooch as the unfortunate Penny is by far the best actor in this show capturing her heartbreak and Penny’s dance slots with Johnny to ’60s classics are hot stuff. Plus she has the longest pins I’ve ever seen on stage.
The mainly female of a certain age audience gets all the classics – the watermelon scene, the water scene and the dance competition. It is fair to say the water scene where Johnny is teaching Baby dance lifts is unbelievably badly done thanks to some very dodgy effects.
But no matter as it leads up the final scene and the famous lift. Johnny is fired, but the tender tough comes back to the camp’s closing dance to reclaim Baby uttering that immortal line ‘nobody puts Baby in a corner.’ Cue loud shrieks of joy.
Then to the strains of the Oscar Winning ‘(I’m Had) The Time of My Life’ Baby and Johnny do their legendary lift and the roar that went up nearly took the roof off this venerable theatre. The whole cast then dance their little hearts out, including the ensemble dancers who were magnificent throughout.
It is a strange show where the first act concludes with an audience cheering a teenage girl being deflowered by a dancer, but this strong cast gives it everything in an unashamedly feelgood show that reminds you theatre can be fun as well as life affirming.
* Dirty Dancing is at Leeds Grand Theatre until Saturday 23rd June. Tickets are still available and are priced from £15 to £48.50. Book through the Grand Theatre box office on 0844 848 2705 or online atleedsgrandtheatre.com.