REVIEW: Dirty Dancing on stage

Dirty Dancing on stage is just that.  It’s a live stage production of Dirty Dancing, the movie.  The plot is the same, the costumes are basically the same and the only surprise is how exactly they are going to pull off that water lift scene (I’ll leave that surprise for you to find out).  I suppose one other difference would be the added musical interludes.  I found these interludes to be distracting from the story line.  It’s as if the movie was too short and they felt they needed to lengthen the show without altering the plot.  At least the vocal talent of Jennlee Shallow and Sam Egerly, which is featured in the interludes, made the interludes worthwhile.  Their incredible voices sometimes were more captivating than the characters.  Overall, Dirty Dancing is a crowd pleaser.  It stays true to the rom-com movie’s appeal including the rebellious underdog girl, family drama and handsome heartthrob coming to save the day.  It’s a classic formula for a reason and the crowd ate it up.  I really enjoyed the choreography.  The dancing was very entertaining .  I wouldn’t consider myself a big fan of the movie but I really enjoyed this production.

Dirty Dancing on stage will be performed at The Orpheum Theatre through October 19, 2014.