My Review of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage
I have a big family. Actually, that is an understatement. At last count there are 28 of us living in the Jacksonville area, if you count all of our spouses families (...and only four were actually born here)! So you can imagine how thrilled everyone was when we came up with the idea of doing "Secret Santa," where all the adults pull a name from a hat and only purchase a present for that individual. This year I drew my mother-in-law, who I knew would appreciate a gift consisting of quality time spent together making memories, rather than a traditional wrapped gift. Needless to say, when I divulged the surprise that I would be taking her to dinner and a show as her "Secret Santa" gift, she was thrilled. That's a lie - she was more than thrilled! She screamed when she found out we were going to Dirty Dancing.
After a lovely dinner at Juliette's Restaurant, located on the ground floor of the Omni Hotel (conveniently across the street from the Times-Union Theater) it was on to the show!
Just after we nestled into our red velvet seats, I anxiously flipped through the marquee to check out the cast. Much to my surprise, the lead of Francis "Baby" Houseman was being portrayed by my girl Jillian Mueller. Mueller was the lead "Alex" in Flashdance, just last season in the Artist Series. "This should be a treat," I thought. Mueller danced her heart out on stage just the previous year, and even had me coining the phrase, "triple threat" in my review of Flashdance.
Growing up, my sister and I must have watched Dirty Dancing, the movie, 100 times. My mother-in-law even told me that every time it's on TV, she stops to watch it with her teenage daughter mumbling in the background, "Again Mom?" Needless to say, our entire family are big fans of the original movie.
A most interesting fact about Dirty Dancing, is the same woman, Eleanor Bergstein, who wrote the original screenplay, also wrote the stage production. She stayed true to the movie, with the same sequence of events, songs and quotes, but also added a few scenes for a more "in depth" feel of the storyline, along with new songs composed just for the stage show.
As everyone knows, the story takes place in 1963 at a family resort in the Catskill Mountains. What most people don't know, as I was so delightfully informed by my mother-in-law, was that many families from New York City and the surrounding areas, actually went to the Catskills (just 100 miles north of the city) in the summer with their families. She went on to describe the boys (mainly Jewish) who would work at the resorts bussing tables prior to their departure the following fall to this or that ivy league school. She vaguely remembers her older sisters engaging in summer flirtations with the boys, only to have their hearts broken at the end of the summer when everyone had to leave. Ahhh, summer romance.
I have a big family. Actually, that is an understatement. At last count there are 28 of us living in the Jacksonville area, if you count all of our spouses families (...and only four were actually born here)! So you can imagine how thrilled everyone was when we came up with the idea of doing "Secret Santa," where all the adults pull a name from a hat and only purchase a present for that individual. This year I drew my mother-in-law, who I knew would appreciate a gift consisting of quality time spent together making memories, rather than a traditional wrapped gift. Needless to say, when I divulged the surprise that I would be taking her to dinner and a show as her "Secret Santa" gift, she was thrilled. That's a lie - she was more than thrilled! She screamed when she found out we were going to Dirty Dancing.
After a lovely dinner at Juliette's Restaurant, located on the ground floor of the Omni Hotel (conveniently across the street from the Times-Union Theater) it was on to the show!
Just after we nestled into our red velvet seats, I anxiously flipped through the marquee to check out the cast. Much to my surprise, the lead of Francis "Baby" Houseman was being portrayed by my girl Jillian Mueller. Mueller was the lead "Alex" in Flashdance, just last season in the Artist Series. "This should be a treat," I thought. Mueller danced her heart out on stage just the previous year, and even had me coining the phrase, "triple threat" in my review of Flashdance.
Growing up, my sister and I must have watched Dirty Dancing, the movie, 100 times. My mother-in-law even told me that every time it's on TV, she stops to watch it with her teenage daughter mumbling in the background, "Again Mom?" Needless to say, our entire family are big fans of the original movie.
A most interesting fact about Dirty Dancing, is the same woman, Eleanor Bergstein, who wrote the original screenplay, also wrote the stage production. She stayed true to the movie, with the same sequence of events, songs and quotes, but also added a few scenes for a more "in depth" feel of the storyline, along with new songs composed just for the stage show.
As everyone knows, the story takes place in 1963 at a family resort in the Catskill Mountains. What most people don't know, as I was so delightfully informed by my mother-in-law, was that many families from New York City and the surrounding areas, actually went to the Catskills (just 100 miles north of the city) in the summer with their families. She went on to describe the boys (mainly Jewish) who would work at the resorts bussing tables prior to their departure the following fall to this or that ivy league school. She vaguely remembers her older sisters engaging in summer flirtations with the boys, only to have their hearts broken at the end of the summer when everyone had to leave. Ahhh, summer romance.
Just to call out a few of the outstanding cast members - Jenny Winton, who portrayed Penny Johnson, was my absolute favorite! The passion and grace she puts in every dance step was mesmerizing. And with Dirty Dancing being a non-traditional musical, as the lead cast-members don't sing, rather this show uses an ensemble with back-up dancers and cast members to act as singers and soloists. Most impressive are Jennlee Shallow and Doug Carpenter, who both had incredible vocals that left the audience awestruck with goosebumps.
Some of the best scenes were definitely the opening and closing dance numbers, with lots of fun in the middle, including all the staff housing "dirty dancing" scenes, and a hilarious rendition of Lisa's Hula "Hula Hana," by actress Emily Rice.
Overall this show is a great one for date night or girls night - It’s lots of fun and very entertaining!
Shows run through Sunday, December 14, 2014 at the Times Union Center-Moran Theater.
My Video Review For Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage
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| Grils Night At Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage (Lisa, Melanie & Tina) |
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| Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage |
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| Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage |
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| Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage |
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| Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage |
