Girl at the Rock Shows

Photo by Matthew Murphy of MurphyMade

I’ll just go ahead and say it. I’ve never seen the 1987 classic Dirty Dancing movie. Truthfully, it was just a bit too before my time and, being more of a music person than a movie buff, I never gave it the time of day. I have had many opportunities to watch the movie, but it just never really spoke to me. That being said, when I learned that Dirty Dancing: The Musical was kicking off its North American tour right here in the Twin Cities, I couldn’t resist going to check it out. Sure, I could have spent a night with the movie in preparation for Thursday night, but what was the fun in that? I wanted to go in without knowing anything and wanted to be transported to the world of this iconic movie rather than spend my time comparing it to a world made with movie magic.

I go to a lot of theatre shows, but they have mostly been at The Orpheum in downtown Minneapolis; Thursday’s show was held at the absolutely gorgeous Ordway Theatre in Saint Paul. I lived in Saint Paul for the first ten years that I lived in the Twin Cities, and it has always felt like home to me, so the setting for Thursday night was perfect. Add the charming staff who greeted my friend and me, all wearing shirts depicting a callback to the storyline of Dirty Dancing, and I found myself in a theatre atmosphere that felt more fun and quirky than old and stuffy, as other theatres can feel. It was perfect and made me feel very at ease at a fairly unfamiliar venue (I had been to The Ordway before, but it’s been few and far between) trying to prepare for a show that I know nothing about. I know this review is supposed to be about the performance, and that’s exactly what I’m going to give you, but I could write a whole review on The Ordway in general, and I would expect to see a lot more reviews coming from this beautiful theatre.

Okay, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of this show. For you youngens like myself, let me give you a quick synopsis of the story here. Set at a 1960s vacation resort, this is the story of a family who goes for just a normal family vacation, but the youngest daughter of the family ends up falling in love with one of the dance instructors at the resort. There are hijinks and a clear spotlight on family dynamics, but at the end of the day, this performance is about forbidden love and never judging a book by its cover. In the movie version, “Baby” (the young daughter) is portrayed by Jennifer Grey, and Johnny Castle (the dance instructor) is portrayed by Patrick Swayze. It’s a hot-and-bothered kind of film with plenty of sexual tension sprinkled throughout. There are moments of sadness, moments of triumph, moments of humor, intimacy, dancing, and, in the case of Dirty Dancing: The Musical, singing. All of these things came together on Thursday night to not only tell the story of the iconic film but, in my case, open my eyes to a classic.

Since this was a musical, let’s talk about the music. The songs were iconic, from ‘This Magic Moment’ by The Drifters to “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. I’ve never been a huge fan of music from eras gone by, but the cast of this performance had me sold. Their voices felt vintage, but the performance felt fresh. What do I mean by that? I so wish I knew. There’s something about old music that has that perfect hint of grit behind every word, and this cast nailed that while keeping things feeling modern, with sparks of personality that sparkled at certain times throughout the songs. Although I loved the singing and, as a music gal, really latched onto that aspect of this show, that wasn’t the big seller for me. The big seller was the dancing.

Obviously, a performance titled Dirty Dancing: The Musical is sure to have a lot of dancing in it. I was prepared for that, but I was not prepared for the sheer talent showcased throughout the show. At this resort, where the story is set, there are dance lessons, and I really loved that you got to see these professional dancers go through dance lessons. It must have been a difficult task for the performers. They all clearly had dancing in their blood, but they had to unlearn that for some of the earlier scenes where they were being taught to dance, and I just really admired the way everyone pulled it off. Annalese Starzec (who played “Baby”) and Blake Zelesnikar (who played Johnny Castle) definitely stole the show dancing-wise, but that was more by default, as they are the two main characters in the story. The moments when it was just the two of them dancing were gorgeous, but the moments when the entire cast would come out and dance for a number were the real stunners of this show.

Obviously, a story about forbidden love is bound to have some hot and steamy moments, and this production didn’t hold back or hide that, but I found myself giggling every time like a schoolchild. It’s not that the acting was bad or anything like that; in fact, I felt the chemistry between Starzec and Zelesnikar was absolutely perfect, but it was the way the audience reacted. It was like being back in middle school, where snickers turned into full-on hoots and hollers when things were really getting steamy on stage. This added a little campiness to the production. Campiness doesn’t really belong in this storyline. It’s truly a beautiful story, but one as old as time that has been done a million times over in different ways. I’m not sure whether the production and writing team meant for this to happen, but I will say that cheering when “Baby” and Johnny finally hooked up was a moment when the crowd sounded more like a crowd at a rock concert than a musical. Another moment like this is when Johnny Castle says the iconic line, “Nobody puts Baby in the corner.” The screaming and cheering that happened after that one line was absolutely deafening, and now, when I say that line, I can actually have some reference as to what it’s all about.

I’ll be honest, this wasn’t my favorite performance I’ve ever seen, but I’m going to chalk that up to the fact that I have zero attachment to the original form of Dirty Dancing. The entire cast, crew, and all of the musicians that have brought Dirty Dancing: The Musical to life absolutely nailed it. This show balanced fun, love, seriousness, and history perfectly and ended with the crowd dancing their way out of the gorgeous theatre at the end of the night.

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