Dirty Dancing

Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury

I have watched classic 80s movie Dirty Dancing more times than I care to remember. I have the soundtrack - both albums no less - and can even quote the lines.

So it was with a huge sense of excitement, but also trepidation, that I took my seat for the touring production at Canterbury’s Marlowe.

Could it possibly live up to such an iconic, much-loved movie?

In a word – yes.

Set in 1963, it tells the story of 17-year-old Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman, whose world is changed when she meets older dance instructor Johnny Castle while on summer holiday with her family.

The film, starring Jennifer Grey and the late Patrick Swayze, was released in 1987, and due to its continuing popularity was turned into a stage show almost three decades on, which has been playing to sold-out audiences since it premiered in London's West End in 2006.

Now it is on tour for the first time, with Jill Winternitz getting to live out the dream of many girls in the role of 'Baby'. As she stepped out on to the stage, it was initially an uncomfortable experience, as I know the movie so well I was pre-empting her lines, but I soon relaxed into it, helped by her assured, yet understated performance.

Following in Swayze's cuban heeled footsteps was always going to be a difficult task, but the tall, dark and handsome Paul Michael Jones is more than up to the task.

He not only shows off a dazzling array of impressive dance moves, but has the confident swagger necessary to pull off such immortal lines as "No-one puts Baby in the corner".

The production values are fabulous, with a clever set that allows for all the key moments of the film, such as the famous scene in the lake, to be recreated.

If you are a Dirty Dancing fan, this stage show is simply not to be missed.

Catch it at the Marlowe until Saturday, April 20.

Kathryn Tye