Dirty Dancing WHAT IS THIS

[show lover]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 5:30pm

I am all for new ways of doing shows but what is this.
I am in Chicago I just saw Dirty Dancing.
First of all a Musical? How can it be a musical when none of the leads sing.
Alot of recorded music from the 60's Lesley Gore etc.
Dancing it looked like Cloris Leachman in Dancing With The Stars.
Sorry New York seemd Chicago is not a grea city for pre-Broadway.
We also had the Pirate Queen.
If I go way back I saw Liza Minnelli in then called SHINE IT ON when it went to Broadway The Act.
3 hours of pure hell ever her of people walking out on Liza. Then they changed it all cut her hair and made it a nightclub act.
We did have the producers.
When do we say enough is enough.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 5:34pm

LOL

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 5:44pm

There was an earlier thread on this, but there can never be too many! lol

I think if you look closely, you will not find this show billed as a musical--it is "the classic story on stage," whatever that means. Their obsessive desire to put the movie into a live theater context is fighting against people's preconceptions of what it will be, or should be like.

I have heard it described as a "play with music."

I should say that I haven't seen it, but this is the tone of a lot that I have read. And I have met some of the cast members. And note that most of the reviews were negative, but audience word of mouth is positive. Hmmm.

We also had "Victor/Victoria" tryout here, and "Aida" and "All Shook Up" (there was a thread on this, too.) And now we are getting "Rob Roy" and "Addams Family." We are a great tryout town! It's just not always great shows that pick us....
Updated On: 11/26/08 at 05:44 PM

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 5:48pm

I agree with Paul W. Thompson, Chicago is a great tryout town. Aside from the flops, we've had Spamalot, Mamma Mia!, The Light in the Piazza, and a lot more before they went to New York.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 5:55pm

DIRTY DANCING- "the PLAY with music" is coming to Boston too on 2/7 to 3/15 before the Broadway bow. Ive heard soo many bad things about the show.. I have friends in London who hated the show..

btw- I think ALL SHOOK UP tried out at Goodspeed Theater in CT. (if I am not mistaken?)
http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=20348

and per Goodspeed. It started at Goodspeed in 2004 prior to Broadway in 2005.
http://www.goodspeed.org/uploadedFiles/shows/PastProductions.pdf


J*


Updated On: 11/26/08 at 05:55 PM

[show lover]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 5:56pm

Sorry I forgot about some of the other shows but the ones I forgot here goes.
Victor/Victoria with out Julie Andrews it closed
YES wait a minute they had Liza but did you see it. It was her act not the show........
All Shook Up reminded me of my high school production I was in Bye Bye Birdie come on did you really like it......
Aida That one was pretty good Music not great but pretty good.
Rob Roy can't wait to see love the music
Addams Family this has alot of ????????????????????
Please don't get me wrong I LOVE the theater but when you do not live in New York where you can buy and wait for lower price tickets.
I do not remember Mama Mia being pre-Broadway here.
Spamalot was great if you are a fan of Monty Python if not you missed alot of jokes.
The light in the Piazza music GREAT play zzzzzzzzzzzz

[show lover]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 6:05pm

This is how Broadway in Chicago Lists Dirty Dancing.

"Dirty Dancing the worldwide MUSICAL smash is having it's Pre-Broadway US premiere right here in Chicago"

Does this give the right impression it is not a musical?????????

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 6:06pm

When I said Chicago is a great try-out town for shows, I meant that many of the shows that came here turn out to be critical and commercial successes, not what you thought of the shows.

Mamma Mia! came to Chicago in mid 2001 on a pre-Broadway tour (like what Dirty Dancing is doing).

Yes, All Shook Up started at Goodspeed, but it went to Chicago in late 2004/early 2005 before Broadway.

Updated On: 11/26/08 at 06:06 PM

[Mamie]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 6:16pm

"First of all a Musical? How can it be a musical when none of the leads sing."

While a lot of people would agree with you on this, I do want to remind you that a musical called "Contact" won the Tony award for best musical in 2000 and not only was there no singing in it, there was very little talking as well.

Whether it has singing or not, a lemon is still a lemon and Dirty Dancing definitely sounds like a lemon.

[pc1145N2]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 7:04pm

We can talk semantics all day long......but Dirty Dancing is a waste of money. Oh yea, it's as boring as hell.

Posted: 11/26/08 at 7:22pm

It has also smashed house records in Chicago- taking in more money than Wicked or the Jersey Boys.

[kooky]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 7:25pm

I did see this in London and it is completely unmemorable. By the way, I WAS
around in the 60's and NOBODY danced like that !!!!!!!! Anyway, don't waste
your $$$$$$$$$

[hubee]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 12:10am

yah, I saw the Toronto production and it could have been a cheesy fun frothy show but instead it was just LAZY BAD.

the dancing was BORING, the show was BORING and the singing were sung by the waiters. WHAT THE?

(At least in Toronto it was a Canadian Idol winner Melissa ONeill who should have been the whole show because she seriously has an AMAZING voice but other than that, I could have done without everything else).

Seriously, LAZY show yet people are flocking to it. ugh.

[lakezurich]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 12:14am

I walked by the show the other night when it let out and it was like a geriatric convention outside of the theatre.

[cello_dude]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 12:19am

Oh dirty dancing.... you will have a special place in my heart.....

[Neverandy]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 8:17am

Cello Dude-I guess I'll be the one to take the bait. Why?

[Weez]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 8:58am

I was on the Strand one day in London with little to do, when I saw a group of young ladies walk past who looked suspiciously like they were having a hen do. You know, themed t-shirts, tiaras, and a certain boisterous air. On a hunch, I decided to follow at a discreet distance. And I was ABSOLUTELY RIGHT; they *were* going to see 'Dirty Dancing'. XD

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 9:03am

Its horrendous.
I saw the premier production in Sydney and it is dire. I do believe it is even worse in London!
Long will it run, sadly!

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 9:26am

The Sydney Production didn't really have any sets lol, though the UK one does not look much better.

This is such a shabby excuse for a show, the odd thing is Dirty Dancing could have worked as a musical with a new score, at least it would have felt like they actually tried rather than just saw pound signs in their eyes.

It started billing itself as a musical when they 1st opened in London but the advertising was quickly adjusted to say 'The classic Love Story Live On Stage'

As horrid as it is, it will do great business, it has here in the UK and it will do in the states

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 9:59am

From what I've seen in pics of the London production it certainly does look like it has more in the way of sets even if they do look like rejects from a poor national tour of 'Noises Off'! Tacky is what I mean!
Sydney was very black and grey! Boring is what I mean!

[shpants]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 10:26am

In the Toronto Star this morning, there was an ad for cheap Dirty Dancing seats...it seems like they are getting a bit desperate. Fine by me, I hope this foolishness closes. I should have spent my money that I spent on tickets last year on a new pair of shoes or something.

The way I describe the show in my mind is it's like going to a 75 year old's bachelorette party. Not sure why, but makes sense in my head.

LOL

[Jon]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 11:17am

Re Contact:

Contact did not originally bill itself as a "musical". When it opened run at the Mitzi Newhouse Theatre (technically Off-Broadway), it was billed as "A Dance Play". It was considered a risky, experimental piece, and was scheduled for a limited run of 8 weeks.

Then the reviews came out, calling it "the best musical of the year" and saying it "Breathes new life into the tired form of the Broadway musical". At that point, they moved the show upstairs to the Vivian Beaumont theatre, where it became Tony eligible. The reviewers and the Tony Comittee decided it was a "musical".

[Winston3]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 1:53pm

Well I think that if you put a cult movie on stage then people are going to flock to see it. I am not a fan of the movie. I would rather have dental work then sit through it but that is honestly what I think. I remember hearing a story from a friend of mine who was spending a summer in London. She is a huge fan of the movie and when they got to the line "nobody puts baby in a corner" EVERYONE was cheering and clapping. So, I guess it's because of the cult fanbase from the movie.

[LilMiZBroADwaY23]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 2:37pm

I saw this as a person who has never seen the movie, and I didn't hate it...

I liked to call it 'the movie, on stage, with incidental music'

The pacing sucks. They were trying to get two second bits of the movie, and it just made it sooo slow.

I thought the dancing was great, and I liked the use of the cameras on the actors while it is being displayed during the scene. It's a great use of the technology front being applied to theatre.

Maybe the only reason I didn't find it boring was because I've never seen the movie, I don't know.

It's just different, but I didn't mind it. I do wish the leads would have sung, Baby should have had a big, belty ballad somewhere in there. But alas it wasn't.

And the water 'lift' scene was laughable... I did NOT like the effects there. Every one was laughing just because it was so ridiculous.

And as far as associating the city with 'bad tryouts' that is completely not right, and surely has nothing to do with the other. Every try out city, I'm sure has had their fair share of flops.

[shpants]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 2:42pm

Never seen the movie?!
OMG

:)