by Eleanor Bergstein
Directed by James Powell
A Mirvish Production
at the Royal Alexandra Theatre
Opened November 15, 2007

    Claiming the status of a classic for itself, Eleanor Bergstein’s dance anthology musical is really the 1987 hit “indie” film re-created for the stage. Whether it is a classic, it’s too soon to tell. However, judging from the huge success of the film and the almost orgasmic pleasure of many in the opening-night audience, the stage version is sure to be a commercial hit. It’s already that in Australia, where the show premiered in 2004, and success has been replicated in Hamburg and London. No matter that it has a pencil-slim storyline and plot, paper-thin characters, and that the dialogue is pure Hollywood corn. There must be something hormonal about its appeal. Set in 1963, in a summer of love, the story is about the triumph of glands—over class differences, race, and dance techniques. Teenager Frances (“Baby”) Houseman is a blonde virgin who is forced to accompany her parents and sister Lisa to the Max Kellerman Mountain Inn, an idyllic resort in the Catskills, where, naturally, there is an inept Catskill stand-up comic, a luxurious golf course, a campfire, cabins, and a lake. Naturally, her virginity is put to the test. Baby meets dance instructor Johnny Castle (whose body is very much his castle), and helps him out of two difficulties: unplanned parenthood (his partner Penny is pregnant) and a dance competition. Baby helps pay for an abortion (to melodramatic complications) and she struggles to learn a mambo routine so she can substitute for Penny who, of course, is out of commission. It helps that Monica West’s Baby is as blonde as Britta Lazenga’s Penny, though her dancing and personality don’t have the sexiness of Ms. Lazenga. Not that it matters. Jake Simons’ Johnny has sex appeal for two, starting with his legs, moving up to his crotch, and spreading to his smooth, muscular chest. He is, it is true, more posture than character, and Simons lacks real charm. He’s no Patrick Swayze, but he has his own standards of appeal—obviously, or Baby wouldn’t develop the “hots” for him. Nor would the women in the audience salivate or cheer for him as they do.

   The script is really a screenplay because of the very short scenes, the excellent video and projection design by Jon Driscoll, and the extraordinary lighting by Tim Mitchell who deploys such things as wipes and fadeouts against a curved cyclorama that enhances the cinematic sense. Ms. Bergstein who, apparently wanted to avoid simply putting the film on stage, has actually done just that—adding a few songs she couldn’t use in the original movie. Gauging that most of the show’s fans have short attention spans, she keeps the dialogue brief—sometimes a scene has but one line—and she shrewdly retains some of the cult favorites, particularly the applause-gathering “Nobody puts Baby in a corner!”  

   As I said earlier, the story is really about glands. There is a hint of social and political turmoil in the background, but it is too slight to be palpable. Segregation and the issue of civil rights do rear their heads—however briefly—and we are not allowed to forget that Baby and Johnny are from opposite sides of the socio-economic tracks. But the overarching theme is sex—in the dances, in the love plot (a huge log becomes a phallic symbol despite its lowering to a horizontal position), and in the Big Finish, when the signature hit “The Time of My Life” gets the full treatment. The technical production values are wonderful, as is the dancing that is choreographed by Kate Champion and set to hit standards by such stars as Marvin Gaye, Tina Turner, the Diamonds, et cetera, and the show has a built-in cult appeal. I call it a dance anthology musical for several reasons. The music (by a nine-member swing band under Robert Foster’s conducting) runs like a continual score, with hardly a pause for dialogue. The numbers are all familiar from past hit charts: “This Magic Moment,” “Do You Love Me?” “Honey Love,” “Hungry Eyes,” “Save The Last Dance For Me,” “You Don’t Own Me,” “In The Still of the Night,” and, of course, the inevitable “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.” So what’s to complain about? There are even modulations into Latin, folk ballad, and “You Do Something to Me.” An anthology of bygone hits, indeed. And the dance numbers are always on parade of some type—some being displayed as dance contests—though there is a concession at times to furthering the plot. You want a tango, waltz, swing, cha-cha, or mambo? You get it—full of flair, zest, and down and dirty when it needs to be. In fact, it’s the dancing that puts the real spin on this show, for the dances become the main way of telling and colouring the story.

photos: Cylla von Tiedemann

pic 1: Jake Simons (Johnny), Brita Lazenga (Penny), and Monica West (Baby)

pic 2: Monica West and Jake Simons


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