Press night at the Bristol Hippodrome last night was packed to the rafters, I doubt that there was a spare seat anywhere in the house as the long awaited tour of Dirty Dancing got underway. There were some doubters during the previews but whatever issues they had with the show were swept away by the great production we saw last night - no room for doubt, this is a great show!
Emily Holt's Baby was very well portrayed, growing from the young, insecure girl to the dancing queen, and her relationship with Johnny Castle (Paul-Michael Jones) was full of chemistry and promise. Charlotte Gooch played a fabulous Penny and I really enjoyed Thomas Aldridge's Billy - especially his "In the Still of the Night" - beautiful. In fact all the cast gave of their best to make sure that we all had a great evening - I hope that they can keep it up for the next 18 months!
Touring shows are not like fixed London shows - but that doesn't make them worse - just different. The set and projecting in this show is great, giving all of the atmosphere you need without distracting from the show itself - I would have dropped the video of the dancers behind the dancers in some scenes but other than that I found it all appropriate and enjoyable.
The audience loved it, I loved it, this is a great night out - particularly for those groups ... much whooping and hollerin from the audience during the show and a great atmosphere ... go see!
