Choosing a movie nowadays can be a tough task of deciding between a reboot, sequel, screen adaptation or the latest franchise returning from the grave. The lack of originality in Hollywood is nothing new, as movie studios go for the properties guaranteed to make them money.
While the theaters of Broadway are also littered with well-known source material, the world of theater sees far less blatant cash grabs. Telling a story through a musical can infuse life into a property giving it its own personality (i.e. 42nd Street, The Producers, Billy Elliot, Thoroughly Modern Millie, etc.). Musicals are safe from sequels or churning out endless installments of the latest trend of superhero movies or teenage dystopian love stories. But unfortunately, a few unoriginal regurgitations do get made. Enter stage right: Dirty Dancing — The Classic Story on Stage.
Sitting down to watch Dirty Dancing, now playing at the Buell through Jan. 31, my expectations were low, and in the end, my expectations were met.
For those who don’t remember the 1987 movie, the story follows Frances “Baby” Houseman and her family who are vacationing at a resort in the Catskills Mountains. Bored of the fancy locale for rich people, Baby is more interested with cavorting with the staff and quickly falls into the arms, and bed, of Johnny Castle. Inevitable chaos ensues in her WASPy family.
It’s clear Dirty Dancing the musical was fine just being an average adaptation of the film. But its potential was seen on stage, and it was a distracting frustration. In one of the first scenes, Baby walks through a screen door, looks hopefully into the audience, and … nothing. She casually walks across the stage as it transitions into the next scene and misses the perfect moment for a classic musical theater “I want” song, which sets up the character’s motivation. This subtle hint let the viewer know, this wasn’t gonna be the typical burst-out-into song musical.
The rest of the stage show followed suit, mirroring the movie almost exactly, adding almost no original flair or personality to the stage version. This may not surprise some people, but in reality, most musicals have potential, regardless of subject matter (i.e. a hip hop musical about founding father Alexander Hamilton). The creative team is presented with a set of problems associated with translating something to the stage, sans the help of special effects, fancy camera work, flexibility of location or even time for proper costume changes. They also need to understand the story well enough to choose just the right moments pregnant with potential for music. It allows for creativity, if up for the challenge.
In case the Dirty Dancing team needed a template, enter stage left: Hairspray. The musical, based on the 1988 cult classic film with the same name, ran on Broadway for seven years, with more than 2,600 performances, and won eight out of the 13 Tony Awards it was nominated for, including best musical. Narratively, Dirty Dancing and Hairspray share a lot in common. They’re both ’80s dance movies set in the early ’60s, with serious undertones and historical pre-Civil Rights frameworks. But instead of even attempting a Hairspray-like approach, Dirty Dancing settled for a lazy, boring staging of the movie that served up an unfulfilling spoonful of nostalgia, instead of a thought-provoking musical.
Moving past the disappointing lack of original songs, Dirty Dancing could be loosely classified as a jukebox musical, which takes known songs and structures them in a narrative context à la Jersey Boys or Mamma Mia. But the performances of classic songs like “Magic Moment” and “You Don’t Own Me” were few and far between, usually as background music for a dance number. And far too many songs were pre-recorded tunes emerging from a record player on stage.
In the second act, the lack of musical numbers got even more confusing. Almost every character showcased a brief burst of musical talent, and each small moment was met with an enthusiastic response from the crowd. It all begged the question: why isn’t there more singing in this musical? If you have the talent, use it. Especially when you have standout performers like the vastly underutilized supporting players Adrienne Walker and Doug Carpenter, who each sang a couple songs throughout the night and dueted “(I’ve Had the) Time of my Life.” I was left confused and wanting more.
The performance by the main stars also left more to be desired. Baby, played by Gillian Abbott, was slightly awkward and unremarkable. Johnny, portrayed by Christopher Tierney, felt hollow; the cool guy apathy made him come across as bored, not charming. But to both their credit, they were great dancers.
The one solid factor of the night was the dancing. The stars and chorus members shined in every scene, be it the cha cha or the bump and grind. The best dancer of the night was Jenny Winton, playing Penny, whose skill and charm were a pleasure to watch. If anything, at least, there could have been more dancing.
But really, despite the absence of imagination, all in all the show wasn’t a total bust. It’s a palatable, pleasant evening on the town that satisfies those sentimental pangs. But if you’re itching for a Dirty Dancing fix and can’t make the musical, popping in the DVD will more than suffice.
On the Bill: Dirty Dancing. Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1345 Champa St., Denver, 720-865-4239, Through Jan. 31.
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